


A Child of His Mind

by Icemaidenstory



Series: The Daughters of Odin [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Asgard history, F/F, F/M, Gen, Goddesses, Magic, Major character death - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Strong Female Characters, War, Yggdrasil is alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:00:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 38
Words: 117,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27143521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icemaidenstory/pseuds/Icemaidenstory
Summary: Who will win in a war between Asgard and Nidavellir? Asgardian might versus Dwarven ingenuity has been put to the test for the last fifty years and a firm answer is nowhere near decided. For the children of Odin, the chaos of war means something different to each one.Hela is excelling on the battlefield, but struggles to rein it in once the fights are over, Daianya can see another way, but cannot convince her father and grandfather to listen to her, Nal's powers are increasing, fuelled by her anger at continually being dismissed and overlooked, and Anima, the only mortal child of Odin, is finally beginning to feel her age.Meanwhile Odin's return to Asgard has put him back in the path of Frigga, who is determined to do her part in the war after the devastating attack on Vanaheim.And far away on Jotunheim, Laufey's plans to remove King Grundroth from the throne are finally ready to put into action thanks to an alliance with Amora, the green-eyed sorceress from Vanaheim.
Relationships: Anima/Senan - Relationship, Daianya/Tarah, Nal/Loki, Odin/Frigga
Series: The Daughters of Odin [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670887
Comments: 270
Kudos: 70





	1. Until Another Life

**Author's Note:**

> As with the previous stories, Allspeak will translate anything (like distances, ages etc.) into English, mostly so I don't have to keep coming up with creative ways to describe '100 metres' or '17 years old'.
> 
> Also, I did warn that this would eventually line up with Thor movie canon, and that does mean that some people are going to start dying. You've been warned.

There was only the slightest whisper of sound through the dark of the forest and the woman appeared as though stepping out of the shadows. Her dress was dark green, as was the hood of her cloak set atop thick brown hair that framed sea-blue eyes. Her face looked young, but her gaze spoke of hidden wisdom and serious thoughts.

She made her way through the trees with only the gentle swish of her skirt for company, and stepped out from the forest that overlooked the river at the bottom of a gentle slope. Beyond the river the wooden walls of a settlement could be seen, large for the area, with the walls patrolled by watching eyes.

She made her way to the river and stepped out onto the water. A faint sparkle of light beneath her feet indicated the presence of magic as she walked across to the other side without so much as a drop touching the soles of her shoes.

The man on gate duty saw her approach out of the dark and opened his mouth to call out a challenge, but as the sight of her became clearer his voice died in his throat.

The gate opened itself as she arrived and she stepped into the settlement without looking at him. Other saw her as she made her way through the rough collection of buildings gathered around a central roundhouse, the largest building present and the only one made of stone.

“It’s her,” whispered one man to another and was frantically shushed. They knew it was her. They’d all heard the stories but none had ever seen her until this day.

She stepped inside the roundhouse and was met with wide and frightened looks. An old man lay on a bed of straw and fur, his breathing was ragged and his pallor was grey, but when he saw that she had arrived he reached out a hand to her as best he could.

“Grandfather,” said the man closest to his bedside. His voice was tinged with uncertainty.

“Go and be your people, King,” gasped the old man.

The younger man started and looked up almost helplessly at the older woman on the other side of the bed, who nodded to him. “It’s time, my son, your Grandfather has willed it,” she said. She looked up at where the young woman stood. “Your Majesty,” she said with a hasty bow and hustled the remaining people out of the roundhouse, leaving them alone.

The woman from the forest stepped forwards and sat down by the old man’s bedside.

“I’m dyin’ Ani-darlin’,” he said with a strain in his voice.

Anima Odinsdottir, youngest child of Prince Odin of Asgard and Goddess of Magic, leaned over him and stroked the wisp of white hair left upon his head.

“I’m afraid so, my love,” she said softly, as tears gathered in her eyes.

“We never did manage to find time for us, did we?” he asked.

“You had your duties and I had mine,” Anima replied, stroking his forehead tenderly with a gentle hand.

All the time she had known him she had used her magic to give him health and keep him as well as a man could be living in the conditions that he did, but now his lifeforce was almost gone, and all the magic in the world couldn’t gain him even a second longer.

“You look the same as you did the day I met you,” he said, “But I’ve grown old and grey. Me skin is saggin’, look.” He began coughing, and Anima used a whisper of magic to help clear the fluid from his lungs. “I’ll see me sons and daughters again soon, won’t I?” he asked as he was able to breathe again.

“Yes,” Anima said through growing tears. “Your soul will travel on the branches of Yggdrasil until it arrives safely among the spiritual branches.”

“Don’t cry, Ani-darlin’ please don’t cry,” he said. “I’ll see you again one day too, I’ll be the one waitin’ for you with… with… a potato. Do they have potatoes in Tír na nÓg?”

“If they don’t, then we’ll have to go wandering until we find some,” Anima said. “Potatoes must have an afterlife too, surely?”

He chuckled as she struggled to smile, and his chuckles became coughs. She cleared his lungs again and then leaned down to kiss him. 

“I love you,” she said. “I’ve loved you for most of my life, and no time or distance has ever changed that, or ever will, Senan, Watcher of Sheep who became King of the Bouvinda.”

“I love you, Anima, my… Fairy… Princess…” he breathed and his eyes closed, “I will… see you… in… another… life…”

Anime sat in the dim light of the roundhouse and held his hand, listening in silence to the sound of his breathing as it went from laboured to ragged and then slowly stopped. Then, her face wet with tears, she rose and turned away from the bed. For the first time in the eighty years that had passed since she had first visited Senan’s home, there was nothing left here for her. She closed her eyes and vanished in a flash of blue light.

****

The light of the Bifrost came shining down from above, caught at the end by the spinning mechanism at the end of a very long and precarious looking bridge. Two bright flashes travelled down the length and became two weary men. The shorter of the two had a brushing of grey at his temples, but otherwise was blessed with a thicket of brown hair beneath his helmet. His armour was well-worn and dented, and one eye was covered by a make-shift bandage.

The taller of the two, Loki of Utgard, had red hair that looked as though it was fighting to get away from its owner. His armour was made up of bright green chain mail and leather, over which he wore a bright yellow breastplate, gauntlets and thigh-high studded boots, all crowned with a helmet with two outrageously long horns, which he pulled off immediately.

“Look at it, will you,” he said with a smile, nodding at the view in front of them.

The shorter man, Crown Prince Odin, wore much more sensible armour over his leather and cotton clothes. His helmet had smaller horns and a pair of wings on the side. When he pulled it off he winced slightly as it caught the fabric that was wound over his left eye. He glanced down the length of the bridge at the golden city beyond. “It does make quite a sight,” he said with a smile.

Loki sighed in delight. “I remember the first time I set foot in Asgard, all young and fiery and ready to make trouble. I took one look at the place and fell in love, although I still maintain the mountains are in the wrong places.”

They began the long trek down the bridge. There were no horses waiting for them, but then their arrival had been kept a closely guarded secret. Asgard was at war with a cunning and clever enemy who had no issue using spies of any kind. The movements of the Crown Prince were therefore kept as secret as possible.

Odin walked with heavy footsteps. In truth he was a crippled man, although those who saw him fight would swear the opposite. Fifty years earlier he had called upon more power than his body should have been capable of channelling, and saved his children and Loki too, but the price he had paid and continued to pay was high. Approximately once a year he fell into a deep, magical sleep that lasted for about a day. During that time he was as vulnerable as a mortal and twice as helpless. The timing of the sleep was always approximate, and could be shorter if he exerted his powers too frequently during the year. The length of time he slept was also based on how badly he had pushed his own limits, and with the war going the way it was he suspected this time would be over a day, but by how much he couldn’t say.

“How are you managing? Do you need me to fetch a stretcher?” Loki asked.

“I’m fine,” Odin said, trying not to show how tired he was. “I think it’ll be a few weeks yet before I must sleep.”

“I could turn into a horse and let you ride me into town,” Loki said, waggling his eyebrows.

Odin ignored him, most of the things Loki said were worth ignoring. 

They reached the end of the bridge at last and hailed one of the flyers which sat waiting to ferry goods and people all over the city. They boarded and Odin sat down with a sigh.

“I am looking forward to a few days of rest,” he admitted. “This war has been hard on all of us.”

“Well the Dwarves are cunning bastards,” Loki said breezily. “I like them when they’re not trying to kill us.”

“Don’t you still owe them money?” Odin asked.

“No, King Bor still owes them money. I paid my part of the debt,” Loki said.

“You let them sew your mouth shut,” Odin recalled. “How did you manage to get the threads out without any scarring?”

Loki shrugged. “I cut my own lips off and regrew them,” he said.

Odin stared into Loki’s perfectly serious and blank expression. “Wouldn’t that cause more scars than the threads?” he asked.

Loki shrugged. “Clearly not, or you’d see them,” he said. “Then again, I’m the God of Not Scarring, so it all worked out regardless.”

“Uh-huh,” Odin said and turned to look out at the city as they sped towards the palace.

They walked through the main doors and into the private areas of the palace. The palace itself was peaceful compared to the chaos they had left behind them out on the various battlefields across the galaxy, although the number of lords compared to ladies was definitely skewed. 

Odin led the way to his father’s office. King Bor was supposed to have arrived back in Asgard a few days earlier and he was looking forward to seeing him after more than a year away.

Had it really been so long? The war was dragging on with stalemates everywhere. Asgardian might versus Dwarven ingenuity. It had been just over fifty years since war was declared and neither side was even close to victory.

Odin knocked on the door and was surprised to hear a woman’s voice bid him enter. He pushed the door open and stopped at the sight of his daughter, Nal, sitting at his father’s desk reading through what looked like a farming report.

Her blue skin and red eyes were startling to the unprepared, and Odin noticed at once that her straight black hair had been cut to her shoulders. Her dress was styled plainly, with more severe lines than previous Asgardian fashions, and the only jewellery she wore was a flower pendant with a white stone in the centre and a single red Jotun tear dangling from the bottom. It appeared the war was slowly stripping away all sense of frivolity as time went on.

Nal looked up and saw him. Marking her place carefully she rose and gave him a bow of respect. “Father, the King told me you were coming home,” she said. “He’s been called away to a skirmish but expects to be back by tomorrow.”

“Nal, my Princess, you look like Valhalla,” Loki said from behind Odin. “Hard at work running a realm is a good look for you.”

Nal raised an eyebrow and greeted him. “Loki.”

“How is the realm?” Odin asked, stepping more fully into the room.

“Well, the harvests are good this year, we’ll be able to store some excess in case of lean times, which is good because the Dwarves have blockaded the main supply route from the trader stations to Asgard,” Nal said. “We’re now fully reliant on the Bifrost.”

Odin frowned. “That’s bad news,” he said.

“General Solveig is intending to launch a counter attack to break the blockade but first she has to recall a dozen squadrons to bulk up the numbers,” Nal said. “Daianya should be home in a few days, her squadron is one of those on the list.”

“That’s good, I haven’t seen her in…” Odin trailed off, trying to remember.

“Three years,” Nal filled in for him. “Last time she was back you were already gone so you missed her.”

“Three years is too long,” Odin said. “I’ll be glad to see her. Where’s Anima?”

“Anima is in her room,” Nal said. “She’d prefer to be alone for a bit, she lost a… good friend recently, and she needs a little time.”

Odin winced. “This war is taking casualties every day,” he said.

Nal remained silent as Loki looked at her and mouthed ‘Senan?’ She spared him the smallest of nods and he winced in sympathy.

“We should get something to eat,” Loki said, turning to Odin. “Any chance of some boar and lamb, do you think?”

“Boar yes, lamb no. Wrong time of the year,” Nal said. “I’ll speak to the kitchens and have something sent to your rooms if you like.”

“I _would_ like to take the world’s longest bath,” Loki said.

Odin just sighed. “You have everything under control here?” he asked Nal.

“Yes,” Nal said flatly.

“Come on, Brother, she’s been minding the realm for the last fifty years while you and your father were off playing soldiers, I doubt she needs any help now,” Loki said.

Odin hesitated. “I though Vili was the one in charge of minding the realm, that’s all, is he well?”  
he asked.

“Quite well,” Nal said to him levelly.

Odin nodded and turned away. “It’s good to see you,” he added as he headed out the door.

“Same, but with feeling,” Loki added, leaving her alone.

“I told you she was the best at running a realm,” Loki said as soon as the door was closed. “She’s got your brains, Brother, but a much better temperament.”

Odin sighed with weariness. “Yes, yes,” he said. “I’m going to go and bathe and pull on something that hasn’t been splattered with blood.”

“Do you need me to wait outside the door in case you enter Odinsleep?” Loki offered. “I can’t believe that name stuck,” he added with a tone of disgust.

“No, I don’t need you,” Odin said. “I’m tired, but it’s not overwhelming yet. I’ll wait until my father has returned and then I will let myself sleep.”

****

Daianya walked through the rubble and the dead and tried not to wrinkle her nose too badly at the stench around her. This particular battle had occurred four days ago and it showed. Flies buzzed over every piece of exposed flesh and animals had to be chased off when they arrived.

It had been the first battlefield in the fight for this system and it was only now that the Dwarven forces had been pushed back that the care for the dead could begin. Most of the dead were Dwarves. This particular battle had gone the Asgardian’s way from the beginning, but there were still a few among the fallen.

“I’ve found her,” said Tarah from behind her. Daianya turned and followed with a serious look as Tarah led the way past several large broken machines to the base of what looked like half a large Dwarven tank.

Squadron leader Nindra’s body was lying half under the bulk of the tank. She had been hit and fallen and it had rolled right over the top of her before the other Valkyrie could destroy it or even slow its destructive path.

“She trained us on missile avoidance,” Daianya said.

“I know, she was brutal but her techniques kept us alive during the Convergence,” Tarah added.

Together they took out laser cutters and cut away enough of the metal to remove the body. It fell into two pieces once the weight was removed and both women avoided eye contact until they had placed the pieces onto a stretcher and covered it carefully. Daianya marked it with Nindra’s name and activated a beacon for one of the other Valkyrie to come and retrieve her.

“We’ve lost a lot of people,” Tarah said.

“Not as many as you’d think,” Daianya replied. “After fifty years I would have thought it would be worse, but General Solveig is good at directing us to battles we can win.”

“She’s a genius tactician,” Tarah added.

“She is,” Daianya agreed.

They made their way back across the battlefield, scanning for Asgardian remains on their way. To their relief they didn’t find anymore and climbed aboard the flyer which would take them back to the large transport ship which formed the Valkyrie main base of operations.

Once aboard they made their way to the showers and stripped off. Daianya tapped the pendant held by a choker-style necklace. It had three small red stones set in a triangle into a round golden base. As she touched one of the stones her swords vanished from her sides. A second stone would summon her full royal armour, but since the beginning of the war she had preferred to wear a Valkyrie uniform like her sisters in arms. She tugged the uniform off and let it fall to the floor, sighing heavily as she activated the water and stepped underneath. The flow of water hit her hair, the thick, red, curls of which had been compressed by her helmet into what was basically a second helmet, and proceeded to bounce off and flow down around her body in streams without actually managing to touch it.

There was a giggle from behind her and she turned to see Tarah smothering a grin.

“It’s not funny,” she said, already fighting her own grin.

“It’ll make its way through eventually,” Tarah said, still giggling. She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Daianya, pressing in close for a kiss. “I like your hair,” she said. “I like the way it adds up to a foot to your height so I can always see you from a distance.”

Daianya smiled an indulgent smile and tickled Tarah’s sides. Tarah let out a yelp and jumped back as the water finally broke through the tight curls and began to run down Daianya’s face and body.

Later on they curled up together on Tarah’s bunk behind a curtain of blankets stolen from Daianya’s bunk and spent a few hours reminding each other that not everything in the nine realms was completely shitty.

“I wish all this was over,” Tarah said softly, her face inches from Daianya’s in the dim light.

“Me too,” Daianya said. “We’ve been at a stalemate for so long, we win a little, they win a little, it’s stupid, we’re all children of Yggdrasil, we should be trying to sort this out.”

“I just want to know why Eitri would help a monster like Thanos,” Tarah said. “He always seemed so… sensible.”

“I know,” Daianya said, “Although the one time I met him Hela killed his brother Sindri, so he wasn’t at his best, but even then he was so controlled and level headed. I could understand him calling for Hela’s death as payment, but he didn’t even do that.”

“Do you think the King will even try to negotiate a peace?” Tarah asked.

Daianya thought about her grandfather for a moment. “No,” she said. “Father, yes, definitely, but not King Bor, he was born to wage war, he enjoys it.”

Tarah sighed and rested her head down on the pillow as she trailed her fingers lazily across Daianya’s hip. “I don’t,” she said. “It’s a duty, and I have no qualms about performing it, but I’d much rather be doing stupid parade escorts and patrolling quiet outer-regions and colonies.”

“Me too,” Daianya said. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to Tarah’s lips. “But if I have to go through this nightmare, at least I have you beside me,” she added.

****

Anima lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling. In the last hundred years she had never felt old before, but now she felt her years with a heavy weight.

No more late night conversations via magical means, no more visits in the clearing in the forest, no more jokes and comfort.

No more ‘Ani-Darlin’s’ from his lips to her ears.

She drew in a deep breath and tried to blink back the tears that had been falling for three straight days. In a little while she would be needed to make more healing runes down in the healer’s wing, a task she had been doing faithfully for the last fifty years. But all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and never do anything ever again in her whole life.

 _Do you want a hug?_ Nal thought in her head.

 _No thank you,_ Anima replied, _I’ll be alright in a bit, I’m not the first person to lose someone and I won’t be the last._

_That is true, but I’m not concerned about those other people, _Nal thought.__

__Despite everything, Anima still found a smile creeping onto her face at the thought of her cold and harsh sister’s attitude toward people in general. Everything about Nal was sharp, her voice, her manner, her eyes and her expressions, and yet for anyone who managed to get past her icy exterior she was kind and warm almost in spite of herself._ _

__By contrast Anima had always been more open and easy going, more willing to laugh and have fun just for the sake of it. Just not right now._ _

__Almost without thinking about it, Anima reached up and wrapped her hand around the pendant hanging from a chain around her neck. The three green stones glittered in their copper setting. One of them had been spelled to talk to Senan, who Anima had no doubt would have been buried with his enchanted tiger tooth still around his neck._ _

__Silent as the night air, her tears began to fall again._ _

__****_ _

__Hela was having the time of her life. War was _wonderful_. No one ever told her to rein it in or to show restraint. She could kill everyone she laid her hands on, and she did, oh how she did. _ _

__She ran onto the battlefield with a whoop of excitement. All around her were members of Asgard’s army, hollering their own battle cries as they raced to be the first into the fray._ _

__She slammed into one of the Dwarven tanks and drove Mjolnir down hard into one of the joins, grinning in delight as it buckled slightly under her blow. She swung again and again, ignoring the chaos going on around her. She wanted to get at the men inside, she wanted to tear their bodies apart and feel their cells dying at her hands. The sound of screams only fuelled her as she swung again, finally breaking through the outer panel to the inner workings of the machine._ _

__She jammed Mjolnir into the mechanism and grinned in delight as pieces snapped and the tank ground to a halt._ _

__Mjolnir had been a wonderful addition to her arsenal. Early on in the war the Dwarfs had unveiled large trapping mechanisms. Any weapon they had made and enchanted would be called towards the traps which would then grind anyone unwilling to let go up into a fine paste. Odin had almost died the first time, and he only managed to get Mjolnir back because the Asgardian army had ultimately won the battle and dismantled the trapping machine. After a second close call he had given the matter some careful and measured thought before handing Mjolnir to Hela and telling her to hold on at all costs._ _

__Getting ground up wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but Hela had never really felt pain the other people did. She’d reformed inside the machine and broken out swinging, slaughtering the Dwarfs behind their own lines. Odin had let he keep Mjolnir ever since, and the Dwarfs were careful not to deploy their trapping machines until after they had established Hela was not on the battlefield._ _

__“Stop!”_ _

__Hela turned, only just realising that this particular battle had not gone in Asgard’s favour and that the army had been forced to retreat while she had been distracted. She was surrounded by a battalion of armoured Dwarfs, all holding powerful weapons but looking no less terrified at having to confront her._ _

__And so they should. Hela did not take prisoners. She grinned and summoned half a dozen blades, throwing them from her body, with barely any effort, directly at the nearest Dwarfs._ _

__They others retaliated by attacking, and Hela laughed as she swung and slashed and took blows no other Asgardian could survive._ _

__“You can’t kill death!” she cried gleefully, carving her way through the Dwarfs and soaking in the feeling of their demise._ _

__When she was done killing the last of them she turned back to the tank with a wicked smile. It took a few minutes to break the hatch and pull it away, but once she jumped down inside she saw three terrified Dwarfs waiting there, helpless to escape._ _

__Five minutes later Hela emerged coated in blood and grinning wildly from the rush._ _

__War was _heaven_._ _


	2. Settling In

Odin opened his eyes with a groan. It had been too easy to fall asleep the night before and, despite his assurances to Loki, he hadn’t been completely certain that he’d wake come morning.

Still, he’d managed it, albeit reluctantly.

With a groan of effort he heaved himself out of bed and staggered to the shower. The battlefield didn’t offer many chances for cleanliness and he was determined to take advantage of the luxuries the palace had to offer before he returned to the field.

The water helped to wake him up further, as did the hot breakfast waiting for him when he emerged. He looked at it suspiciously for a moment but could detect nothing dangerous with his magic, it appeared the servants had heard him moving about and had taken the initiative.

He ate quickly, there was much to do before he succumbed to sleep and it was important to get started as quickly as possible, beginning with Vili.

Odin found his brother in the King’s office, where he had been expecting to see him the day before. Vili was sitting at King Bor’s desk signing papers one after the other without reading them. He saw Odin standing there and nodded at him. 

“I’m almost done,” he said, “Unless you want to take over now that you’re home?”

Odin shook his head. “You were left as regent while Father is away fighting,” he said, “Which is why I was surprised to see Nal here yesterday.”

Vili shrugged. “I think it was well established centuries ago that I do not have the right kind of mind to maintain a realm, Brother, I do well enough on my estates through the benefit of my wife and some very clever hired administrators. Your daughter is one of the cleverest I’ve ever met, if she ever wants a job managing my lands when all this is over then she’s got it. These days I mostly just sign what she leaves me.”

Odin frowned and came closer to inspect the papers Vili was signing so casually. “You don’t even read them?” he asked.

“Nal does, that’s good enough for me,” Vili said, “Unless you think she’s not capable? But I can assure you, Brother, Asgard remains strong, she’s got a knack for this kind of thing.”

Odin hesitated. “I knew she was clever, of course,” he said awkwardly, “It’s just that she’s never had any training.”

“Maybe when the war is done you can take her under your wing,” Vili said, “Assuming there’s anything left for her to learn.” He finished signing the last paper and added it to the stack. “There, time for a break.”

He picked up Gungnir from where it sat in the corner and gestured for Odin to join him. Odin did so, resisting the urge to stay and double check the papers Vili was so happy to leave.

“Have you figured out how to disable those Dwarven traps yet?” Vili asked. “I hate carrying this thing around, it’s a lot heavier than it looks, and I know Father would rather have it with him on the battlefield.”

Odin shook his head. “They’re vicious machines, and our sorcerers can’t seem to touch them. Only Hela can stand against them.”

“Does she mind being mangled up every time?” Vili asked, curious.

“She seems to relish it,” Odin said. 

“Oh,” Vili added, “Just to keep you informed, Vé has moved to Alfheim with his wife. He angered King Dimcken with his objections to the war.”

“King Dimcken lost his eldest son,” Odin said, “He won’t be satisfied until the Dwarfs are wiped out completely, I can only imagine his anger at an objection.”

“Vé’s always preferred peace,” Vili said, “As do I, but after what happened I cannot see how we can ever be at peace with the Dwarfs again. Aiding the last Titan to attack one of the nine realms, what was Eitri thinking?”

“I wish I knew,” Odin said. “I would have said it wasn’t like him, but his maker’s mark was on the gauntlet, those are impossible to replicate even if there was someone else with the talent to make a gauntlet like that.”

“I hope that once Eitri has been reached and faces justice that the other Dwarfs will be left alone,” Vili said, partly in a questioning tone.

Odin nodded. “We are still all children of Yggdrasil, the other Dwarfs are not our concern,” he confirmed. “King Dimcken may disagree but that is one of the reasons why Asgard is taking charge of the war effort.”

“Based on our correspondence these past fifty years I’m not convinced he’s entirely stable,” Vili confessed.

Odin shrugged. “His son Dorgen is still a child, unless Dimcken does something completely mad his throne is secure.”

They reached the doorway to the gardens and stepped out, Odin raised both eyebrows at the sight before him.

“This was all flowers last time I was here,” he said.

“Nal converted it to medicinal herbs about six months ago,” Vili said, “To help increase the healer’s supplies.”

“Are we struggling?” Odin asked.

Vili sighed deeply. “Fifty year into war? Yes Brother, in certain things we are indeed starting to struggle. We’d be a lot worse off without Anima making all our healing runes as well, girl’s barely had time to breathe.”

Odin sighed deeply. “We have to find a way to break the stalemate soon,” he said.

“Or broker a peace?” Vili suggested.

Odin shook his head. “Even if it can be done, you and I both know that Father will never do it, not without Eitri’s head.”

****

Eitri, King of the Dwarfs, was carving an extremely intricate design into what looked to the untrained eye like the centrepiece of a belt. Six sections all connected to allow for a bend and about the thickness of an Asgardian’s buckle.

His assistant, Annarr, peeked around the threshold of the door and watched silently until Eitri straightened up. Only then did he knock.

“Come in,” Eitri said, glancing up with tired eyes.

“What is it?” Annarr asked, gesturing to the piece on Eitri’s worktop.

“A trap,” Eitri said, “For Hela. She’s decimating our troops, destroying our machines with ease. She can’t die, which is a problem, and one I think I can solve.”

Annarr leaned over and looked at the etchings. “That’s a powerful spell,” he said, “But it requires a sacrifice to activate.”

“Blood magic is the most powerful kind, anything less and I can’t be sure she won’t break out again,” Eitri said.

“The caster will have to die,” Annarr said.

“No, she takes power from death. The caster will be crippled for the rest of their life, never again as powerful as they once were,” Eitri said. “Which is why I cannot give this to just anyone. I would never ask such a thing from my people to begin with, but even if I were the kind, most of them do not have the strength.”

Annarr’s eyes widened. “You are thinking of yourself?” he asked. “My King, you cannot.”

“I must,” Eitri said, “Or else she will continue to slash her way through my people until there are none left.”

Annarr straighten up and took a deep breath. “I came to deliver news, my King, sad news,” he said.

Eitri looked up into his eyes and his face fell. “Brokkr?” he asked.

“We found him, what’s left of him,” Annarr said. “Only his bones remained, we confirmed them with a life-code match but we have no way of knowing how it happened, we estimate that he’s been dead for fifty years.”

Eitri closed his eyes in pain and bowed his head. “Where was he?” he asked.

“On an asteroid, we followed the words of scavengers who we caught with parts from his ship. They stripped it more than ten years ago but their scant information was enough to follow to the general area, then we… scanned… I am so sorry, my King,” Annarr added.

Eitri sighed heavily. “I suspected, of course,” he said. “Brokkr always came home eventually, but still I hoped that the war was keeping him away. I hoped that he was safe.” 

“We’ve brought his bones back,” Annarr said.

Eitri nodded. “I shall bury him next to Sindri back on the homeworld,” he said, rising from his desk and walking to the window. At this time of the day the planet that had been their home for thousands of years before they had built the great ring was just visible, a dark and dreary realm, not at all like the constant bustle of the ring that rang with industry day and night.

There were a few Dwarfs still living there, priests mostly, who tended to the monuments of the dead, but also a lot of the older Dwarfs, now too old to work and the younger Dwarfs, too young to be left alone. It was the Dwarven way.

Eitri turned from the window and walked across to where his finished moulds sat. “I will need the Uru forge tonight,” he said.

“I will make sure it is free for you,” said Annarr at once. “You have a new weapon to forge?”

“Yes,” Eitri said, “This one. Strong enough to withstand all of my previous efforts combined, the first of a pair, and something I hope shall allow me to get close enough to Hela to activate my other work.”

“What’s its name?” Annarr asked, looking at the mould with interest.

“Stormbringer,” Eitri said.

****

Nal was in the Death Garden, carefully collecting cuttings of the Rotting Creeper vine, when she heard the sound of footsteps behind her.

“You’d better be careful,” she said without turning around, “Those who stray even a little from the path usually don’t live long enough to regret it.”

“I’m always careful,” Loki said, “Even when I’m not.”

“You are up early, I thought you’d sleep for a week,” Nal said, still not looking up.

“That’s your father, if I can ever convince him to just get on with it, I swear he makes it worse for himself every time,” Loki said, coming close enough to kneel by her side. “Pruning?”

“For good reason,” Nal said, “The Rotting Creeper, in carefully diluted doses, can remove necrotising flesh from infected wounds without causing much harm to the still healthy flesh around it. The healers asked me to collect some to replenish their supplies.”

Loki pulled a face. “You couldn’t pay me to set foot in the healer’s wing right now,” he said.

“It’s almost empty,” Nal said, “We had to set up a hospital in the barracks instead.”

“That’s much worse,” Loki said.

“The army is taking heavy casualties, the Valkyrie not nearly as many, but I’ve heard a rumour that General Hymir is fighting a war on two fronts,” Nal said.

“Oh?”

“The True Men’s Alliance,” Nal said. “It preaches that ‘real men’ charge into battle without fear, which contrasts rather strongly with the General’s preferred approach of careful planning and not getting yourself killed.”

“The army is well trained though,” Loki said.

“The standing army, but the newer recruits are the biggest issue, they get orders to remain in the rear as support and half of them ignore it the moment the battle is joined, or so the reports say. General Hymir is requesting that they be left behind to undergo further intense training. His latest communication said he’d rather not have them there at all than have to deal with what they’ve been doing,” Nal said.

“What about Lord Elbin? What’s he up to?” Loki asked.

“He’s around,” Nal said in an annoyed tone. “He did go into battle once, but he’s a bit older than most warriors so most of his work has been here, keeping his harvests maintained and shipping supplies to the army.”

“Convenient,” Loki said.

“He’s still making speeches,” Nal said darkly. “I estimate that he’s got a following of at least one thousand in the city, with far more out on the battlefields.”

“That’s… not good,” Loki said.

“No,” Nal conceded, “But just meeting up and talking about how much more superior they think they are isn’t actually a crime.”

“What I don’t get,” Loki said as Nal rose and led the way out of the garden, “Is why anyone would be so stupid as to believe Lord _Elbin_ over their own damn eyes? Asgardian men aren’t superior to Asgardian women any more than Asgardian women are superior to Asgardian men.”

“That’s very specific,” Nal commented.

“Well, it’s different on Jotunheim of course, women _are_ superior, and in every way,” Loki said. “But I’ve lived here long enough to know that isn’t the case here, in either direction. And if I could unlearn an entire childhood of different thinking, I can’t understand why someone who grew up here surrounded by Asgardian women would ever be so naïve as to think they are lesser.”

****

Tyr, son of General Hymir, ran through his drills for the fortieth time that day. He was almost seventeen and desperate to do his part out on the battlefield, but his father had a strict ‘must be of age’ policy that he refused to bend even for someone of Tyr’s natural prowess. That meant Tyr had just over 150 years left before he could join the ranks of the army, and the thought frustrated him more with every passing day.

It wasn’t fair, Tyr thought to himself as he swung and slashed at the dummy standing opposite him. He was able to take down men twice his age, he was quick, he’d learnt to be cunning. He deserved a chance to prove himself.

Of course Asgard had been in wars before that had lasted a very long time. The Asgardian-Jotun war had gone on for almost a thousand years, although according to the historians it had been made up of small, vicious, bouts of fighting punctuated by long periods of hostile silence as each side rearmed. The Titan War had lasted fifty years or so with a blockade that went for the same length, although blockades, especially that one, were boring with no actual fighting taking place.

“Knowing my luck I’ll be of age just in time to blockade Nidavellir,” he muttered to himself.

At the far end of the yard, Commander Lomax limped slowly over to the latest recruits. He’d been wounded in a recent battle and had been sent back to Asgard to recover. In the meantime he worked hard to inspire those brave enough to join the army.

Tyr smiled at the sight of him. Unlike General Hymir, Commander Lomax seemed to really understand how Tyr felt. If he were in charge of the army then Tyr would already be out there, proving himself.

He finished his last drill and sheathed his sword before walking over to where the Commander was putting the new recruits through a drill of their own. Commander Lomax gave him a nod of acknowledgement and Tyr preened slightly as the recruits looked him over, no doubt wondering who the young expert was.

“I have something for you,” Commander Lomax said, reaching into his pocket. He removed a pamphlet and handed it over. It was the latest writings of Lord Elbin, the leader of the True Men’s Alliance, another thing Tyr’s father didn’t seem to understand.

In the past Commander Lomax had snuck Tyr the pamphlets and recordings of Lord Elbin’s speeches, but with General Hymir far away for years at a time there was no point in trying to hide it any longer.

Tyr took the pamphlet and gave Commander Lomax a salute. “Thank you, Commander,” he said.

Lord Elbin was Tyr’s private hero. He told the truth about what an Asgardian man ought to be, strong, brave, in charge of his own life and family. Every man should be a king in his own house, and his wife and daughters ought to serve. It made sense to Tyr, men were clearly stronger, they were sacrificing far more in the war than the Valkyrie, who didn’t seem to suffer the same number of casualties, probably because they spent all their time in the air above where the real fighting was happening, Tyr thought.

He left the yard at a slow strut and made his way to his home, which was a small house allocated to the General of the army, situated inside the palace grounds not far from the barracks.

There were eight houses in total for the leaders of the King’s forces, Commander Lomax had one as well, as did General Solveig, the head of the Valkyrie, and her next in command.

Tyr pushed open the door and made his way upstairs to his room. He’d been living there alone for fifty years now, with only the occasional visit from his father and, slightly more frequently, his aunt.

Tyr hated the visits from his aunt, they were humiliating for a man like himself. He didn’t need anyone to _check_ on him. He kept the house spotless the way his father had taught him and ate with the men in the barracks. The rest of the time he attended his lessons and he trained. He was _fine_.

He read over the latest pamphlet. Lord Elbin was urging all the True Men to stand up and join the army. He even included a list of ways to get around the physical fitness requirements because a True Man never let anything stand in his way.

If Tyr were not so well known he would have tried numbers seven and eight, which were both ways to get around the age requirement. Sadly he’d grown up side by side to the men his father had trained. To his endless frustration he would just have to wait.

There was a meeting tonight at the Standing Proud, Tyr read with interest. It had been a while since Lord Elbin had spoken in person to the True Men, and Tyr immediately made up his mind to go.


	3. Thoughts on the Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took so long. Normally on the break I take between stories I use a bit of time to recharge, and then the remaining time to map out all the different character storylines for the next one so that all the events are in the right order. This time around I think I had the busiest three weeks of the year and managed to do no mapping at all. I did get the first chapter out on time and I threw the second together as well, but then I realised that I needed my map otherwise I'd miss adding important details in at the right moment.
> 
> So I've been mapping away all last week and finally have the next chapter ready. I will try not to leave such long breaks between updates unless I absolutely have to.

Frigga was walking down a hill. It was a gentle slope, but growing ever steeper. She was starting to go faster and it wasn’t entirely her choice. Halfway down the slope it suddenly ended in steep drop. Odin stood right on the edge, watching her as she walked towards him. There was still time to change her course, but she was torn. She wanted to go to him, but behind him was a valley filled with harsh rocks and cruel ground, interspersed with patches of green garden that look as though it would bring respite.

In the patches of garden she could see other people, a man who looked like her brother, with golden brown hair and a cheeky smile. He saw her looking and gave her a wink. 

“Will you behave?” she said.

As far away as he was, he still seemed to hear her and began laughing as tears poured down his face.

There was another man there too, black hair, serious face. She wanted so badly to pull him into a hug and she didn’t know why.

Off to one side there was a different path. The ground beyond the drop was gentler and looked less wild, although it still had patches of rockiness. She could see a group of people having a picnic. One of them turned and gave her a wave. She had Frigga’s own smile, but the older man sitting with them had his back turned to her and she couldn’t see who he was.

The third path ended at a cliff. There was nothing beyond, not even rocks, just darkness. Frigga pulled back from it instinctively and looked back at Odin, who was smiling at her hopefully. His feet were right on the very edge. Frigga reached out towards him, wanting to pull him back from the drop, maybe they could find another way across?

****

Frigga’s eyes opened and she took a deep breath as the morning light chased away the shadows of the night. She was no fool, she could tell when a vision had visited her, and this one had hardly been subtle. Three paths, one easier, but not the one she appeared to be on; if she wanted it she’d have to change what she was doing. One led to early death, who only knew what action would cause her to walk off that particular cliff… and one path with Odin, filled with hardship and good times in equal measure, one with two men who would be very important to her. She strongly suspected the blond one would be her son, although the depth of feeling she felt for the other who looked nothing like her made her wonder if perhaps his dark hair and sharp features were more of a throwback to some distant family member.

He did look familiar, somehow, although Frigga couldn’t place where she’d seen his face before. 

Did she want a life of mixed blessings? Did she want the challenges of life with a man like Odin? Or did the fact that he was still standing on the edge and had not yet stepped over the steep drop mean that she had a chance to pull him back and save him, and herself, from such a mixed fate?

Still caught up in her wondering, Frigga showered and dressed for another day. She stopped and looked out of her window, as she always did, to look at the gardens. They were nicknamed the Jewel of Asgard and for good reason. Princess Nal had created something truly magnificent.

Nal had startled her when they’d first met. It wasn’t the startling blue skin, although that had been unexpected after meeting so many of the rest of Odin’s family, no, it had been the sudden memory of one of Frigga’s other dreams, one in which Nal had screamed at her father that he was a liar and stabbed him through the back.

And yet, she had been very polite and quite calm in person, nothing like the dream her, a screaming terror that had struck fear into Frigga’s heart. Frigga had reminded herself that dreams were often filled with metaphor, and that the real Princess Nal may well never attack her own father.

And yet Frigga couldn’t quite shake the cold she felt whenever she looked at her.

****

Daianya was woken by the sound of Meydee calling out. She was on her feet in seconds, heart racing and already reaching for her armour.

“We’re being sent back to Asgard,” Meydee said, poking her head through the door and catching sight of Daianya pulling her undershirt on hastily. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted,” she added guiltily.

Daianya relaxed slightly as Tarah slipped out of the bed after her. “Right, it’s fine, I’m just on edge.”

“For the last fifty years,” Tarah added with a fond smile. “Asgard?”

“We just got the orders, the bulk of the Valkyrie are being recalled,” Meydee said. 

“Do we know why?” Daianya asked.

Meydee shook her head. “Orders came in just now, pack up and get ready to move on. No further communications.”

“Ship or Bifrost?” Tarah asked.

“Bifrost for us, the ships are being taken by the other half of the force,” Meydee said. 

Daianya looked at Tarah. “Two pronged attack,” they said at the same time.

Meydee grinned at them. “Just be ready inside of an hour. General Solveig said we can take anything you can carry, probably because we’ll be able to drop off the extra stuff back home.”

Daianya turned and looked at her possessions. There wasn’t much. Tarah was already pulling on her own armour in between throwing things into her travel bag. Daianya did the same, pulling on the Valkyrie uniform and fastening her pendant around her neck. Then she closed up her bag and hoisted it onto her shoulders. “Ready,” she said.

“It will be good to sleep in a bigger bed again,” Tarah said.

“Will you be joining me in my room, or me in yours?” Daianya asked.

“That’s never actually come up before, has it?” Tarah asked in return, looking amused.

“My bed’s bigger, and softer,” Daianya said.

“But it’s up so many stairs,” Tarah countered.

“It’s more private,” Daianya said as they left the room and headed towards the Bifrost gateway on the ship.

“How private can it be with your sisters right next door?” Tarah asked.

“Still more private than our friends in the same room,” Daianya said.

“We could apply for a couple’s room?” Tarah suggested with only the slightest amount of hesitation in her voice.

Daianya stopped and looked at her with a smile on her face. “Now that sounds like the best idea yet,” she said.

****

Hela flew through the air, pulled by the Dwarven trap that sucked Mjolnir in towards them. It had taken all her self-control to hold back until they assumed she wasn’t on the field of battle and activated the trap, but now there was nothing stopping her from being pulled behind their lines.

Just before she reached the trap she summoned the power of Yggdrasil and sent a wave of power into the mechanism. The metal cracked and warped as it aged rapidly, before buckling and exploding into pieces just as she arrived. The pulling sensation abruptly dropped and she landed before the former trap with a delighted smile on her face as she took in the horrified faces of the enemy.

“Oh come now, you wanted me here, after all,” she said and began swinging.

It had been decades since she’d accidently summoned her first death wave, and in the years since she had practiced and perfected it until she could cause decay and damage in anything, well, anything that was subject to the ravages of time anyway.

It worked better when she was actually in contact with the object or person in question, but the traps weren’t as heavily warded as Dwarven weaponry, and so fell apart from a distance.

This time the battle went the Asgardians’ way, and soon the remaining Dwarfs were in fast retreat. Hela pursued them as long as she could, outstripping the warriors with ease. By the time she finally slammed Mjolnir down on the last head, smashing it into the snow, she was all alone.

“So weak,” she said said, turning back towards her own lines. “Real warriors would be able to keep up with me.”

She turned and made her way back to her own lines, smiling as she felt the death all around her. If Hela had her way the war would never end. She could just imagine it, endless death, planet after planet, world after world, more and more until perhaps even she could be sated.

“There’s been news, your Grace,” said Sub-Commander Birger, a favourite of hers due to his ruthlessness.

“Oh?” she said.

“The Dwarfs have blockaded Asgard’s shipping, they are almost completely cut off other than the Bifrost. The rumour is that there will be a counter attack on the Dwarven base just outside the system, plus a ship battle to destroy their warships,” he said.

Hela grinned. “I want to be there,” she said.

“We all do, but apparently the Valkyrie are taking the lead,” he said.

Hela scowled immediately. “They have the right to it, they have always been more of a home guard, you know that,” she said, although her tone was annoyed. General Solveig actively resisted having Hela in the field with her Valkyrie, too violent, apparently.

“I was planning to write to General Hymir and ask if we might act as backup forces. My men have been in the field for more than five years, and the few days’ respite we’d get on Asgard before the attack would be very welcome,” Sub-Commander Birger said, “With your permission, of course?”

“Granted,” Hela said. “I haven’t seen Asgard is fifty years, and I don’t really care for respite, but I want to be a part of that battle.”

****

Far away on a distant hill, Eitri’s primary general, General Grer, stopped the long-distance recording and crawled back down the other side carefully. 

“She does this with every battle?” he asked some of his soldiers once he was safely within his ship.

“Almost always; the lust for blood makes her crazy and she chases until we either get away or she kills us all,” said his commander.

“Good,” General Grer said. “Our king has a plan, and if she isolated herself it will only be easier. Get us back to Niðavellir as quickly as you can. He will want to see her fighting style.”

“It’s not really a style, she just swings around manically,” said the commander. “If she were capable of dying she’d be long gone by now.”

“She showed some skill, but you’re right, not a lot,” General Grer conceded, “All the better for our King.”

****

Anima made her way to the Healers’ wing of the palace with heavy steps. She stopped when she got to the door and just stared at it with unhidden disgust.

Fifty years she’d been making runes. Fifty years of magic and work, carving power into the little stones again and again, and had it helped? 

Well, yes, actually. Without the runes a lot more people would be dead, but fifty years of war just seemed utterly exhausting and _unnecessary_.

She hadn’t always felt that way. In the beginning she had believed, as had so many others, that Eitri ought to pay for the violent attack and the thousands of dead Thanos the Titan had wrought. She supposed that deep down inside she still felt he ought to be brought to justice, but most of the time she just felt tired.

It was her own sense of time doing that to her. Being mortal made everything seem so… fast. Fifty years was nothing to an Asgardian. The Jotun War had lasted a thousand years and no one seemed to think that was unusual. Anima found she couldn’t even imagine a war lasting that long. She couldn’t imagine a thousand years at all. She had been educated in history, of course, but her memory was filled with notable events all happening one after the other. Trying to remember that some of those events happened centuries apart while still involving the same people was really trying.

With a heavy sigh she pushed open the door and let herself in. Frigga was already sitting at her own workstation, carefully inscribing the runes for stopping blood flow from an open wound.

“Good morning,” Anima said out of habit.

“Good morning,” Frigga said, giving her a kind smile, “Are you well? I haven’t seen you for a few days.”

Anima sat down at her own workstation and thought about her answer.

“I am… getting older,” she said at last, “And when you get older you get more thoughtful, or so it seems to me.”

“What have you been thinking about?” Frigga asked.

“Time,” Anima said, “And how it passes so quickly.”

Frigga nodded, “I know, just the other day I realised that I have been on Asgard for almost twenty years without visiting home. I speak to my mother regularly of course, but I’ve been working so much I didn’t even realise just how long it has been.”

“It will be longer still if the war doesn’t end,” Anima said.

“Have you heard something?” Frigga asked. “I haven’t heard anything about a truce.”

“No, no truce, no peace, but I’m still right,” Anima said.

She bent her head down and started making runes, her mind still halfway across Yggdrasil, in a forest clearing, where a fire burned and cooked potatoes and melted chocolate, and where time had once seemed endless and eternal.

****

Odin made his way to the Healers’ rooms for two reasons, his daughter and his lover. Of course he wanted to see Anima, it had been a year since they’d last spoken, but his heart gave a little flutter every time he thought of Frigga.

He’d arrived back for the Odinsleep one day twenty years ago only to find her in the rose garden, taking a break from her magical work. He had stammered an introduction like a boy first courting and she had smiled and assured him that yes, she did remember their last meeting, actually, the one where he had fainted? Yes, she remembered it very well.

Despite that, she had still agreed to eat lunch with him.

A few days once a year over twenty years wasn’t much of a courtship, but people had to make do when at war, and Odin couldn’t help but feel a thousand years younger whenever he saw her.

He wanted to ask her to marry him. It was too soon, especially without a proper courtship, but every time he saw her, every time he received a letter, every time he heard news of her trickle back to him on the battlefield, he realised he was falling ever deeper in love.

He’d never thought he’d feel that way again. But then he hadn’t, not really. Yrsa had been a love of passion and haste, made all the more so by her mortality. He had burned with love for her knowing that one day, far sooner than he would ever be ready for, she would be gone. Losing her after only two years of even knowing her had been a knife strike to the heart, but still, her love had always contained a sense of fleeting and finality.

Frigga felt like something far more lasting. Vanir lifespans were the same, or close enough to it, to Asgardian ones. She had a way of moving through people that caused them to act better just by seeing her, she had eyes that saw everything and found sparks of goodness and hope where Odin could only see cynicism and darkness. She made him feel like a better man, and he wanted that feeling to last forever.

But would she even accept? She had come to do her part to help in the war, she had never indicated that she would like to stay on Asgard. Surely she must be missing Vanaheim by now?

He entered the Healers’ rooms and looked around hopefully. Whatever she wanted, he hoped that it would involve him.

He saw Frigga sitting at her workstation, her face a serious mask as she carved out yet another rune stone. Beside her sat Anima, who was looking pale and tired, with a slight redness around her eyes.

Odin walked over to them and waited until they were done before he spoke.

“How are you both?”

Frigga looked up at him with a smile and he felt something inside of him warm and soften. The tension of the battlefield finally slipped away under her blue eyes.

Anima, by contrast, gave her father a tight smile of welcome that spoke of hidden, and far less pleasant, thoughts.

“I’m well Father, and yourself?” she said.

“Very well, although tired… again,” he said.

Nal had said Anima had lost a friend recently; that must be why she looked so worn.

“I am glad to hear you are well,” Frigga said, “I hope you will take a few days to rest while you are here, apart from your sleep of course.”

“I intend to,” Odin said, the invitation unspoken but asked anyway as he looked down at her. Would she be happy to spend those few days of respite with him?

Anima gave a sigh of frustration and shoved herself away from her workbench. “Welcome home, Father, really. I mean it, but right now I think I need some air,” she said and walked away.

Odin watched her go with concern in his eyes. “I hope everything is alright,” he said.

“Me too, Anima’s rarely in a bad mood, it’s not in her nature,” Frigga said. “But she’s been working here for so long, almost every day, and she’s growing frustrated with the lack of progress of the war.”

“Me too,” Odin said. “I thought Eitri would have fallen by now. The Dwarfs are not known for their fighting, at least until now. They were always our weapon smiths, and now they have turned all of their considerable creativity on us. It’s a horrible situation.”

“Any hope for peace? For a truce?” Frigga asked.

“Do you want one?” Odin countered, “It was your home they attacked after all.”

“King Dimcken will never accept one willingly, but I can’t help but feel there’s another way. We still don’t know why he gave Thanos the gauntlet in the first place,” Frigga said. “If we knew that, then there might be a way towards peace, at least something that would stop the casualties. More people have died to this war now than in the original attack.”

Odin nodded slowly at her wisdom. “My father has no intention of allowing a peace any more than Dimcken,” he said. “All we can do is try to break through so that this can end quickly.”

****

Anima lay on her back on the grass under the warmth of the Asgardian sun. The air smelt like flowers and she could hear the bees buzzing faintly all around her. Here she felt a measure of peace. She had always liked the gardens, although she had never had Nal’s patience to try and grow one herself.

“How are you doing?” asked a voice from above her. It was Nal, with Loki by her side.

“I’m fine, just warming my bones,” Anima said.

Nal lay down on the grass next to her and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry you never had your chance,” she said softly.

“I had my chance,” Anima said, “I wasted it. I should have just left Asgard, but they needed me, they still do. I chose loyalty to my home and my family, but I regret not making a new one when I had my chance.”

Loki lay down on her other side. “You don’t have to stay, you know,” he said, “Neither of you, actually, if you don’t want to. There’s a whole galaxy out there full of amazing things. Meet me at the launch bay and I’ll steal us a ship and we’ll go exploring. Leave these war-loving _warriors_ to their fun.”

He was met with two identical looks of cynicism. Normally the colouring and hair differences meant that no one had _ever_ had trouble telling the sisters apart, but very occasionally, like right now, it occurred Loki that they were indeed more alike than most people thought. They still had exactly the same face, and right now Anima’s ever-present smile was absent, leaving her looking a lot more like Nal than she usually did.

“I’ve chosen loyalty my whole life,” Anima said. “I may have regrets but I’m not giving it up now, in the middle of a war, for a few moments of adventure.”

Loki shrugged. “Let me know if you change your mind,” he said.

“No one will be changing their mind until the blockade is lifted,” Nal reminded him. “It looks peaceful and calm here right now, but that’s deceptive. We’re badly cut off and if they go on the offensive before General Solveig can get her Valkyrie into position then Asgard may well come under direct attack.”

“Not while I’m here,” Anima said with quiet confidence.

“Last time you channelled an Infinity Stone,” Nal said.

“Yes, and if I have to I’ll drag it up from the depths and do it again,” Anima replied. Her tone was darker and less tolerant than usual, and Nal responded by giving her a hug.

“If they come, I have no doubt they will regret it,” she said.

“And yet Father must find a way to make peace soon,” Anima said. 

“Not with Bor on the throne,” Loki chimed in.

“Even then,” Anima said. “Asgard is not as strong, or as defensible as they think it is. The King may not want peace, but he needs it. Father must find a way to do what is right. In spite of the King if needs be.”

Loki grinned. “I _always_ like spiting the King,” he said.


	4. Stormbringer

Tyr slipped like a shadow through the door of the Standing Proud and made his way to his favourite corner by the back entrance. He wasn’t old enough to be in taverns without supervision, and while he knew he was welcome here as a member of the True Men’s Alliance, he didn’t want to cause the owner any issues should the tavern undergo a check by the city guards. He liked to think the owner appreciated his extra care.

Lord Elbin entered perfectly on time to the sound of cheers and Tyr felt the thrill of belonging, of knowing he was surrounded by people just like him. The numbers were lower than they had been in the past, but with so many men away getting glory on the battlefield that was only to be expected.

Lord Elbin smiled broadly and held his arms up for silence. The room instantly went silent and Tyr had to supress a shiver of delight. Who else had that kind of power? Who else could silence a room so quickly and so well? Lord Elbin was almost like a god in that respect, so strong was his control.

Not a god, Tyr reminded himself, a True Man. 

“My fellow men,” Lord Elbin said, his voice carrying to the very back of the room. “I bring you good news from the battlefield, your fellow True Men are making great gains against the enemy! Every day they bring Asgard closer to victory! Every day they gain glory for themselves! And I know that those of you left behind feel the call as much as anyone. I know that, if circumstances were different, you would be out there, facing the enemy like the men you are!”

The cheer echoed around and Tyr joined in. He’d be out there right now if only they would let him. He knew he could be a great warrior, he didn’t want to wait.

“But I understand that not everyone can go to battle,” Lord Elbin said. “I myself was wounded in one of the first engagements and now General Hymir will not allow me to return.”

There were a large number of boos from the crowd. Tyr winced and sank a little in his seat. He believed that his father was a great general, but even great generals could make mistakes, like holding back a man like Lord Elbin... or one like Tyr.

“Nevertheless, we have work to do here at home, important work, to help aid and honour our fellow men as they fight for us and for the movement,” Lord Elbn continued. “They fight for the future of Asgard, while we must protect and guide it. You know how much danger we are in, I do not have to say it. The Jotun _woman_ gives orders as her uncle sits idle. I have seen with my own eyes how he bows to her will. Asgard is not safe as long as she remains in charge of its defences, its food production, its industry. No! We must strike back against this, and now that our beloved Crown Prince has returned, we finally have our chance.”

Tyr leaned in, pulled almost as though by a spell. He had watched with growing disgust as Prince Vili had handed more and more power to Princess Nal as the years went on. Admittedly, the supply lines were all working perfectly and no one was in any danger of starving either out among the stars or back at home, but it was an insult to all the men who could be given such a place of honour to see it go to a female instead, and a female _Jotun_ at that.

“Now, I have been asked, more than once I may add, whether our plans involve the treasonous act of… well, murder,” Lord Elbin said. “I assure all you True Men that this is not the case. A woman should know her place, and that place is not on a burial ship. Nal ought to be in Jotunheim, where she belongs, and I have it on good authority that King Grundroth, although he appears to have taken a companion these last few years, is still interested in a more permanent arrangement. Therefore it is in all of our best interests to encourage this as much as possible. It is my understanding that Jotun women are much weaker than the men and are kept out of sight and safely in strongholds. Nal is… rather strong, for a woman, she has abilities that are, frankly, dangerous. In fact, fifty years ago she almost brought down the Great Hall onto the head of our king. I propose, therefore, that we find a way to encourage another outburst. If she were to show her instability in a way that caused undeniable havoc, then King Bor will find his best option is to send her to the people who know how to manage such things.”

Tyr nodded. He had seen the destruction in the Great Hall, he knew exactly how unstable Nal could get, but surely in Jotunheim, where _everything_ was made of ice, her powers would be less effective and easier to contain. She’d probably be happier there anyway.

“And then of course there is Hela,” Lord Elbin said.

Every man in the room shuddered. Hela had already been an object of terror, but her battlefield deeds were starting to filter back to Asgard and the stories were, frankly, terrifying.

“Hela is… well, not a suitable heir, I think you will find,” Lord Elbin continued. “She is even more unstable than the Jotun, and were it not for her prowess in battle I believe that our King would have already taken steps to ensure that she never holds the throne. Having said that, she is still next in line after Prince Odin and this is a matter that we need to deal with. What I want from you, especially those of you who work at the palace, is information. I need to know everything you can find out about King Bor’s plans for his granddaughters. With information, we can steer things in a favourable direction.”

Tyr nodded seriously. He had never had much to do with Hela, thankfully, or Nal, although he was already thinking of ways to get closer. He had the freedom to go further than most of the other men here, even the servants had assigned areas whereas he could roam as he wished, within reason.

“What about Daianya? She’s got a woman,” called out one of the men.

“What about Anima? She can twist reality itself,” said another.

Lord Elbin smiled comfortingly. “I understand, of course, your concerns, and I share them, I do. But plans like these take time. I have been watching and waiting for a chance to enact… circumstances to our benefit, and I assure you that we shall tackle such things in time. Of course Daianya cannot remain with another woman, she must marry and have a son to follow Prince Odin, and the mortal? Well, I’m sure time will take care of that issue well enough, mortals will do what mortals must, after all.”

Tyr nodded. Everyone knew Anima was mortal, although it was easy to forget sometimes because she looked just like everyone else, but surely she wouldn’t be an issue? How long did mortals live anyway?

He returned to his house afterwards and headed up to his bedroom. He had training in the morning, again, and he wanted to be fresh and ready, but mostly he wanted to be the one to bring Lord Elbin the information he needed. Lord Elbin was always kind to Tyr when they ran into one another, but his kindness was, Tyr felt, a little patronising. He also saw Tyr as just a child when Tyr knew he was worth far more than that. 

Prince Odin was back for his Odinsleep, and King Bor had been back for a day but had then gone again to help with a skirmish. He was expected to return to Asgard soon. Surely with both of them together after so long there would be important discussions about Hela?

****

Annaar walked at a steady pace towards the workshop of Eitri. Evening had come and the Uru forge was ready for use. Word had gotten around that the King wished to make… something. A weapon, certainly, but what kind his people were unsure about. The best of the rumours said it was a god-killer, the worst said it was far more powerful.

Annaar reached Eitri’s door and knocked as calmly as he could. He knew more than most, and what he did know frightened him. 

“Enter,” Eitri called out from within. Annaar opened the door and walked inside.

“My King, the forge is ready,” he said.

Eitri looked up from a recording of Hela in battle, his face set in a determined expression.

“Very well, it is time then,” he said. His voice was heavy and his body, when he pushed away from the desk and stood up, seemed to be heavily burdened.

Annaar saw the mould sitting to the side. “Shall I carry it for you?” he asked.

Eitri shook his head. “I shall do it; I think I need to, given what it can do. But you can put that one away for me.”

Annaar frowned in confusion as Eitri walked to the entrance to his personal vault and storage chamber. He entered the long and complex code, whispered the words of passing, and let the spells embedded in the door and walls analyse him completely. After a moment the door rolled away, revealing the most secret chamber on Nidavellir. Annaar felt his mouth go dry. Very few people were privileged enough to even see the inside of Eitri’s vault, even fewer allowed to step inside. He picked up the mould carefully and carried it forwards.

Through the doorway, Eitri gestured to an empty stand. Annaar placed the mould carefully, too caught up in the importance of his task and the trust it conveyed to look around properly. But once the mould was safely settled he looked up, and gasped in surprise at the sight that greeted him.

“I’ve been working on them for centuries,” Eitri said, “One after another, every time I became aware of a truly great threat to our existence.”

Before Annaar sat five other stands, each holding a mould the size of a Dwarven axe head; Annaar could feel the power radiating off them.

“What are they for?” he asked in a whisper.

Eitri reached out and gently touched each one in turn; no pride shone in his voice as he quietly spoke.

“Stormbanisher, for a being called Galacticus,” he said, “Stormtamer, for the Phoenix Force, Stormchaser, for Dormammu, Stormrider, for Mephisto, and that one I have just finished, Stormbreaker, for the Infinity Stones. Each weapon perfectly designed to repel the power of its target, and to destroy their essence utterly. In the right hands, they could save us all, and in the wrong ones, they could cause untold devastation, and yet I have made the moulds ready, in case they are ever needed. Such is the burden of my talents, Annaar, that I can create such monstrosities.”

Annaar looked at the last stand, where a final mould sat. Eitri was avoiding looking at it. 

“And that one is Stormbringer,” he said, “The God killer.”

Eitri winced. “Worse than that, he confessed, “The Gods of Asgard draw their power from Yggdrasil itself.”

He stood in silence and waited for the look of realisation to pass over Annaar’s face.

“No,” he whispered.

“Yggdrasil is our creator,” Eitri said, “It made me and all that I am, all of my skill exists by its will alone, and my hands shook to design such a weapon, but Hela, Hela cannot be allowed to remain. Stormbringer will allow me to hold back her power long enough to trap her. I promise you, Annaar, that I shall never wield Stormbringer against Yggdrasil itself.”

“But it could kill it, couldn’t it?” Annaar asked with a tremble in his voice.

“Yes,” Eitri confirmed, “In the wrong hands, it could kill Yggdrasil itself.”

He picked up the mould and carried it out of the door. Annaar followed, no longer interested in the Eitri’s other works, not even the golden gauntlet – a piece of magical perfection the sight of which was much coveted – could hold his interest.

The door closed behind them and Eitri called out over his shoulder. “I you would be so kind as to carry the handle.”

He nodded at a large branch of wood. Annaar gasped as he picked it up. 

“Yggdrasil’s own!” he exclaimed.

“Yes,” Eitri said. “It is needed to complete the magic.”

Annaar followed Eitri through the corridors of the ring towards the Uru forge. As he passed by, Dwarfs stopped in their crafting. Hammers fell silent and eyes turned watchful as the King of the Dwarfs walked ever onward to his goal like a man going to his execution.

The ring had never fallen completely silent before, but even the least magically inclined of the Dwarfs could feel the power coming from the mould. It made their skin crawl; it made them want to flee in terror. They were children of Yggdrasil and they could feel the threat even if they didn’t understand it.

Eitri reached the forge and placed the mould into position. The other Dwarfs who had been tending the metal and keeping things ready fell away from him, repelled by something they didn’t understand.

“Is there no other way?” Annaar asked softly as Eitri fixed the last fastening into place.

“If it exists, I cannot find it,” he said. “Stand back, this will be my working and mine alone. I shall burden no one with what I am about to do.”

Annaar only just managed to resist running to a safe distance. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the forge at all, but his loyalty to his king kept him from leaving entirely.

Eitri picked up and handle and held it ready. He raised his arm and pulled down on the activation mechanism for the eye to the Neutron star.

The eye opened slowly, sending blinding light out across space to the crucible of Uru metal. Eitri stood and watched carefully as the metal ingots metaled down into liquid. The moment it began to bubble he pulled the lever and began the pour. The metal ran down through the guiding channel to the end where it began to fill the mould.

The air began to hum as the ring began to shake. The Dwarfs looked around themselves in a panic.

“Yggdrasil is angry,” one of them said. “Whatever you are doing, my King, you have to stop!”

Eitri did not move. He was watching the pour with careful eyes.

“My King! Please! The ring will shake apart!” screamed another Dwarf.

“The Ring will hold!” Annaar shouted above the screeching of the metal joins as they were shaken against one another, “Do you doubt the work of your ancestors?!”

Eitri stopped the pour and made his way down to the lower level where the mould sat waiting. He reached for the breaking hammer and pulled the release on the fastenings.

The mould fell to the ground with a large crash. Eitri raised the breaking hammer and slammed it down three times, smashing the mould away and leaving behind the cooling metal of the duel axe and hammer head of his creation.

He picked up the handle from where Annaar had left it and began to chant the words of magic needed to bind them. The shaking of the Ring reached its height. Walls twisted and joints cracked as Yggdrasil objected to the creation of his design.

Eitri placed the handle between the two halves and watched as the magic took hold.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I mean you no harm, but she must be stopped. I swear when it is done I shall destroy this thing, this abomination. But first I must stop Hela.”

At the sound of her name the shaking stopped. Yggdrasil had gone silent.

The spell finished and a pulse of power shot out from the weapon, making all who looked at it turn away, all but Eitri. He chose to pay the price of watching his creation come to life.

“Stormbringer,” he said as he held it up, “My will is yours to follow.”


	5. The King Has Returned

The Bifrost light activated in the courtyard and a large group of warriors were deposited at the centre.

“Go and clean up, tonight we feast!” roared a voice from the centre. His announcement was met with cheers as the bloody warriors turned away towards the barracks.

King Bor gave some of them a nod of acknowledgement as they walked past before making his own way into the palace. The last minute raid had been a mess of violence, blood and limbs, and he was looking forward to washing the worst of it off.

“Where’s my son?” he asked as his servants appeared and his guardsman took his axe away for cleaning.

“Last seen in the garden, your Majesty,” said his primary secretary, “With Sar Frigga.”

Bor grunted in approval. “I like that one,” he said to no one in particular, “She looks a man in his eyes, pretty too, which is a bonus.”

He headed upstairs first to wash and change, and to give his son a little more time to romance, before heading back down and out into the gardens.

The problem with the gardens, Bor reflected as he walked about, was how damn big they were. They were a magnificent sight, and quite the tourist attraction in peaceful years, but finding anyone in amongst all the different sections was a bloody nightmare.

“Where’s my son?” he asked a passing gardener.

“Which one, your Majesty?” he asked with a bow.

Bor blinked, of course Vili was around too, Bor had been the one to call him up to regency after all, but sometimes it was easy to forget, Vili was so quiet even at the best of times.

“Odin,” he said.

“I saw Prince Odin walking in the hanging garden about fifteen minutes ago, your Majesty,” said the gardener.

Bor nodded his thanks and made his way over there. The hanging garden was made up entirely of plants that likes to trail walls of vines downwards, making it one of the hardest gardens to navigate.

“Typical,” Bor muttered as he entered through the gate. “ODIN!” he shouted, “ODIN! Where are you my son?”

Odin appeared within minutes, escorting Frigga. He grinned at the sight of his father as Frigga swept into a perfect curtsey.

“Father, it’s good to see you, did the battle go well?” Odin asked.

“What’s wrong with your eye this time?” Bor asked bluntly.

“Nothing, it’s already healed,” Odin said, “Just a bit of redness left over.”

Bor shrugged. “The battle was brief but bloody. They’ve all been cleared out though, which is what we needed. How are you feeling?”

Odin smiled. “Tired, but not yet ready to sleep. I think it will be a few days yet.”

“Do you think you’ll last long enough for the battle to lift the blockade?” Bor asked him.

Odin hesitated. “I’m not certain,” he said at last.

Bor grunted. “I was hoping for a little extra god power behind this one, if we can’t lift the blockade we’ll be in a lot of trouble once the supplies start getting low, and there have been rumours of the Dwarfs building something to block our use of the Bifrost as well,” he said. “I’d prefer not to hold off on the attack unless I have to. You’ll have to miss it.”

“We could recall Hela,” Odin suggested. “She’s always an asset to a battle.”

Bor nodded. “She hasn’t been home in fifty years,” he said, “Having too much fun. I’ll send a message and have her recalled.”

He glanced over at where Frigga stood politely waiting just out of earshot as they finished their conversation. “Frigga, yes? You help make healing runes.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” Frigga said.

Bor nodded. “Glad to have your help,” he added and turned away. “Odin, I want to hold a council of war tonight an hour before the feast, make sure you are there.”

“Yes Father,” Odin said as Bor walked away.

Odin turned back to Frigga and gave her a smile. “He knows you,” he said.

Frigga shrugged gracefully. “I suppose he must have come across a reason to do so,” she said.

Odin’s smile grew wider and he offered her his arm. “It’s still a few hours until I’m needed,” he said, “Shall we continue our walk?”

**** 

Nal was back in the King’s office, summarising reports of shortages in the outer regions when a presence made her look up.

“The King would hate to know you were in here,” she said.

Loki grinned. “Oh good,” he said, walking over and perching on the edge of the desk. 

“Why are you here?” Nal asked. 

“I haven’t seen you in over a year and you ask me that,” Loki replied, picking up a small, very ornate box that sat on the King’s desk. “I remember this, it held the Reality Stone once,” he added.

“And now I believe it holds boiled lollies,” Nal said, “Put it down; and you saw me before lunch in the garden, now I have work to do.”

“I missed you,” Loki said, “And then I went away and had lunch and missed you again.”

Nal’s mouth twitched ever so slightly in amusement. “Find a way to end this war and you can spend all the time you like with me,” she said without taking her eyes off her work.

“Promise?” Loki asked.

Nal did look up at him then. “Do you trust me?” she asked him.

To her complete lack of surprise he hesitated. He always did. For years they had danced the same old steps, he flirted and joked and outright said he had feelings for her that ran deeper than they did for others… but he wouldn’t trust her. He wouldn’t reach out and let her read his life-code. Loki of Utgard had been keeping himself to himself his entire life, and despite his pretty words, he still held back.

“I trust you can run this realm better than the King,” Loki said. 

Nal rolled her eyes. “Just what I’ve always wanted to do,” she said dryly.

“We could run away together,” Loki offered. “Run from the war, run out to the stars and find an uninhabited world, and you could turn the whole thing into a garden.”

Now it was Nal’s turn to hesitate. His offer sounded so tempting. “There’s a blockade in the way,” she said instead of answering properly.

“Why does he need to store boiled lollies so securely?” Loki asked, turning the box in his hands as though he hadn’t heard her.

“To stop people like you from stealing them,” said a voice from the door which made them both look up. 

Loki grinned. “King! You have returned, and in one piece. I am so indifferent to see it!” he said cheerfully.

“Leave,” Bor said to Loki as he strode into the room. “Nal, how are things going?”

“We’re beginning to see the first of the shortages, nothing essential just yet but if the blockade isn’t lifted we’re going to start to feel the lack of imports soon,” she said, rising from Bor’s chair and bowing respectfully.

“What imports?” Loki asked with his mouth full.

Bor stared at him for a long time. Loki kept sucking on the boiled lolly insolently.

“A lot of farming related supplies,” Nal said. “They’ve got the crops but the harvests are going to be interesting with no preservation packs available.”

Loki nodded. “I guess we’ll have to gorge then fast,” he said though straining lips.

“You’re eating all the lollies at once, aren’t you?” Bor said. It wasn’t really a question.

Loki grinned in response, showing brightly coloured hard sugar through his teeth.

“Get out,” Bor said. “Get out and stay out! And leave the box, it’s not yours.”

Loki put the now open and empty box back down on the desk and practically skipped out of the room.

“I’ll put you in the bloody box one day,” Bor muttered, looking after him, before turning his attention back to Nal. “I’m holding a council of war one hour before the feast. Be there. I’ll need to know things about the state of the realm and I don’t have time to read up on all of it before then.”

Nal gave him a bow. “I did write you a summary of the essential information, your Majesty,” she said, gesturing to the report on the desk.

“Thanks,” Bor said gruffly. “I’ll look it over. Where’s Vili?”

Nal almost shrugged, but managed to hold it back. “I’ll find out,” she said.

“Should have left her in charge,” Bor said as she turned and left the room, “If the people would have stood for it.”

****

Loki was waiting for her in the corridor. “Izzi mmd?” he asked.

“He’s no more mad at you than usual,” Nal said. “Why do you antagonise him so much?”

Loki swallowed hard, eyes bulging for a moment as the lump of boiled lollies went down. “I don’t like him,” he said. “He’s brash and brutal, and he’s not a good leader. I mean, he can inspire people, if they are a bunch of idiots, but he’s terrible at diplomacy and even worse at people management. I have seen what leadership looks like and I object to seeing him in the same general space.”

“Who showed you real leadership?” Nal asked him.

“My mother,” Loki said, “My Aunty, a few cousins.”

“The King of Jotunheim?” Nal asked.

“Urgh, no,” Loki said. “The king of Jotunheim has always been… well… quite a bit like Bor, actually.”

Nal shuddered. “They wanted me to marry him, once,” she said.

“I would never have let that happen,” Loki said firmly.

“And how would you have stopped them?” Nal asked. “Eat all their boiled lollies?”

Loki turned and looked at her, green eyes suddenly serious. “I’d steal you away to anywhere you wanted to go, and if that failed, I’d kill them all,” he said.

“So, treason?” Nal said, sounding amused.

“If I had to,” Loki said carelessly, immediately back to his usual self. “But you got yourself out of that particular trouble, so there was no need for me to come charging in to the rescue.”

“I got myself out of that trouble and into another one, if Grundroth dies before some other Jotun conquers the Cave of Kings then I’m officially the next King of Jotunheim,” Nal said.

Loki grinned at her. “I haven’t forgotten, that’s hilarious,” he said.

“It’s not. I don’t want to go and live on Jotunheim,” Nal said.

“So don’t,” Loki said. “Who ever said it was a rule that you had to go and do that. Live on Asgard and just send orders over there every now and again, that’s what I’d do.”

Nal gave him a very old-fashioned look. “Yes, you probably would,” she said at last.

“You have more power than you think you do,” Loki said. “I blame Odin, he should have taught you better.”

“Father has taught me plenty,” Nal said.

“But not the most important lessons,” Loki said. “I can’t blame him, it’s hard to teach what you yourself have not learnt, and Odin never learnt anything about forging his own path. He’s going to inherit the throne from Bor, rule for five thousand years, and then die. What a waste.”

****

“Will you join me at the high table during the feast tonight?” Odin asked Frigga as they sat together under the canopy of a flowering vine. It was currently putting on a spectacular display both on the branches and as a carpet of fallen purple flowers on the ground.

“I would be honoured,” Frigga said. 

The sun was warm and the air was sweet. If she could spend the rest of her life like this she would be very, very happy.

But the path with Odin on it was full of dark pits amongst the joy. She knew it as well as she knew herself, although right now it was hard to believe.

“When we win this war and peace is once again restored to the nine realms, I’d like to take some time to travel,” Odin said. “Do you have any places on Vanaheim you would recommend seeing?”

“All of it,” Frigga said. “It’s all beautiful, from the western deserts to the eastern forests.”

“So it might take me a while?” Odin said. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to guide me?”

Frigga took his hand in hers. Maybe this pathway wasn’t the easiest future, maybe after the war she would return home and set her life’s journey onto something, and someone, easier, but for now it felt pretty sweet to lie beside Odin, Crown Prince of Asgard.

Their time came to an end all too quickly for Frigga’s liking, and it was with real regret that she rose to return to her work in the Healer’s wing, as Odin headed inside to prepare for the council of war.

He left her with a kiss that made her lips tingle and her heart race, and then she made her way back up the stairs alone.

Eir, a young recruit and trainee healer, was waiting for her when she arrived.

“Well?” she asked.

“Well what?” Frigga said.

“Well we all saw you walk out with Prince Odin, how did it go?” she asked.

Frigga resisted the urge to blush, but lost.

“Ooooh,” Eir squealed. “Did you kiss?”

Frigga sighed and sat down, ignoring another squeal. Anima was sitting back at her own desk, making runes at a furious pace.

“Are you alright?” Frigga asked her.

“Fine,” Anima said, “Just fine.”

It didn’t take any kind of special sight to see that she was lying, but Frigga let it go. Anima had become a close enough friend that if she wanted Frigga to know what bothered her she would have said so.

Frigga turned back to her work and tried not to think about her dream, but it was difficult. Three pathways, all equally likely at this point. One was to stay with Odin, and have – if she was interpreting it correctly – two sons, one of whom Hela would threaten one day. The second pathway was back on Vanaheim, the dream hadn’t specified that but she knew it with a certainty that she couldn’t doubt. That way would be easier for her, but would leave Odin alone with the darkness closing in, and the third, which was her own death. She wished she had looked closer at the pathway which lead to that conclusion so that she could take steps to avoid it. 

With a start she realised she had been staring at the same stone for ten minutes without doing anything. She quickly concentrated and placed a rune onto the stone.

“Mind elsewhere?” asked Anima from beside her.

“Yes,” Frigga said. 

“That’s been going around,” Anima said.


	6. Plans and Callings

The war council consisted of Bor, Odin, Vili, Nal, General Solveig, and Commander Lomax. Bor opened the meeting by taking a long drink. 

“Well? How goes the preparations?” he asked as he put his tankard down.

“We’ve begun the recall of troops,” General Solveig said, “About half of them have arrived already and the others are due in the next two days. Assuming nothing disrupts the recall we should be able to proceed with the attack on schedule.”

Bor nodded curtly. “What do we know? Anything new?”

“We have obtained the plans for the Dwarven supply base,” Nal said, placing a schematic down on the table. “The spy network delivered it yesterday. We should be able to narrow our ground focus onto the support systems, the landing pads, the Bifrost gates, anything they might use to reinforce their own troops once the space battle begins.”

Commander Lomax looked at her with barely concealed distain. “Spy network? How long have we had that?” he asked.

“We’ve always had that,” Bor said, “They haven’t had much to do for a while, but they’ve been invaluable to the war effort. Having said that, are they certain that these plans are accurate?”

“As certain as they can be,” Nal said. “If they had a little more time they could try to infiltrate the base itself and determine the accuracy even further, but that would require a delay in the attack which is inadvisable.”

Bor nodded. “The ships are due to arrive on schedule?” he checked.

General Solveig nodded. “There have been no delays so far. We will have the advantage of numbers provided the base is unable to assist them. But I need to know your orders for the aftermath. This battle will create a large number of prisoners and with the recent attack and loss of our offsite prison camp we will have nowhere to put them.”

“True warriors will choose to die in battle,” Commander Lomax said.

“The Dwarfs follow a different code,” General Solveig said without looking at him.

“Does anyone have any ideas?” Bor asked.

“We could convert one of the transport ships currently in for repair,” Nal said, “It’s space-worthy, but unable to fly long distances without new parts. We could tow it out past the edge of the system and guard it while we set up something more permanent.”

“Dwarfs are master craftsmen,” Commander Lomax said, “They will almost certainly find a way to steal it.”

“Not with the main engines in pieces back here on Asgard,” Nal countered, “Even Dwarfs can’t make something out of nothing, the ship won’t fly, the weapons are currently in the workshops, the only thing that’s working right now is the hull integrity and the oxygen, otherwise I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Odin said.

Bor nodded. “It’ll do,” he decided. “But we need a new prison camp, they got back over three thousand soldiers when they took our last one.”

“We could convert the world with the base on it,” Nal suggested. “It already has barracks large enough to hold Dwarfs. We could strip it of any equipment we find and lock the place down more securely.”

General Solveig nodded thoughtfully. “If we do that, then we’ll need to try and avoid causing too much damage to the structures, but it’s doable. Most of the soldiers will come out to fight. They have a large number of ground tanks there which will need manning.”

“Why so many?” Bor asked.

“To invade Asgard,” Odin and Nal said at the same time.

Odin blinked in surprise at his daughter’s response, and gestured for her to continue speaking.

“It’s obvious what they’re planning,” Nal said, “The blockade is reducing our ability to be self-sufficient, after this year’s harvest is partly lost due to a lack of needed equipment we will have to choose between sending the army supplies or feeding the people left behind. The most obvious solution is rationing, which will still cause hunger and weakness, at which point they cut off the Bifrost and invade. By the time the troops can be summoned they have control over Asgard and, more importantly, the weapons’ vault and its contents.”

“That seems unlikely,” Commander Lomax said.

“No, I agree with her,” Odin replied, “The Dwarfs know our weaknesses very well, and they have supplied us with powerful weapons in the past. If anyone can find a way through Asgard’s defences and pasts its remaining gods it will be Eitri.”

“Especially as the only god consistently left behind on Asgard is Anima,” Nal said. “She’s capable of defending the realm, but the Dwarfs – especially Eitri – are masters of magic. All they have to do is hold her off long enough to strike her. She may be a goddess but she’s still mortal, and vulnerable to mortal wounds.”

“Best bet would be a sleeping spell of some kind, cast at night, before they attack,” Odin said. “Anima would already be asleep and so wouldn’t see it coming. She’d be unable to wake and Asgard would be theirs.”

“Well, good thing we’re taking some other gods into battle then,” Bor said. “I’m recalling Hela, I’ve already sent the order. She will join the ground troops in the attack.”

“That’ll ensure no prisoners,” Nal muttered.

“I will also join the battle in space,” Bor said. “I intend to be the first to set foot in one of their ships once we cripple them. Odin, you need to rest so you can stay here.”

“I’m not quite ready,” Odin protested.

“You’re not at the top of your game either,” Bor said bluntly. “I can see it in the way you walk. If you can sleep now and wake in time for battle then you can join us, but I won’t be sending you in your condition.”

“What about Loki?” Nal asked. “I know you can’t stand him but he is a capable fighter, and he’s here.”

“Fine,” Bor said. “He can join the ground troops, I don’t want him near me.”

“My men are also on standby,” Commander Lomax said, “It needn’t be the Valkyrie alone who take the field.”

“Your trainees will get my Valkyrie killed,” General Solveig said bluntly, “I’ve seen them in training and they need more time. This is not a battle we can afford to make mistakes with.”

“I agree,” Bor said, cutting off Commander Lomax’s protest. “They can keep at their training. This is a major battle but it’s not going to win the war, we’ll need them yet.”

“Has anyone considered trying for a truce?” Nal asked.

Bor grunted. “Eitri’s head on a plate will be my truce, not before,” he said, “Not after what he did, siding with a _Titan_ , giving something so powerful to someone so mad. No, Eitri will pay, he _must_ pay.”

“He is not the only one paying,” Nal said.

“True,” Vili added, speaking for the first time, “Our people are starting to suffer.”

“We’ve gone through worse,” Bor said. “A thousand years we fought the Jotnir, and – ” 

“Lots of people died and both Jotunheim and Asgard are exactly as they used to be,” said Loki from the window.

“That window was spelled to keep people out!” Bor said in outrage.

“I know, that’s why I used the door,” Loki said. “I came in about ten minutes before your meeting started and hid behind the curtains. Don’t be mad,” he added, turning to face Nal who was indeed, looking angry, “I used a complex combination of spells to evade your careful checking, I doubt anyone else could do so, except maybe your sister.”

“Get out,” Bor ordered.

“Just pointing out that war makes no difference in the long run, but peace makes us stronger,” Loki said.

“Eitri does not deserve peace!” Bor snapped.

“Eitri was always a calm, cautious and careful Dwarf with an inventor’s mind and a tinkerer’s patience,” Loki said. “Now, if you told me Brokkr was behind it I wouldn’t hesitate to believe it, but despite the maker’s mark being Eitri’s, after fifty years of conflict I’m rather curious to hear his side of the story.”

“I’m not, and I’m the King, now get out,” Bor said, “Or I’ll have your head cut off.”

Loki shrugged. “You need me,” was all he said as he walked out of the door.

“I checked behind the curtains,” Nal said, “I checked _everywhere_.”

“So did I. Loki makes his own rules half the time,” Odin said, “At least he’s loyal.”

****

Eir walked into the head healer’s office with a disheartened spirit. She’d messed up again, and she was not looking forward to talking about it.

The head healer, Inge, was waiting for her.

“Please, take a seat,” she said as Eir appeared in the doorway.

Eir sank reluctantly into one of the chairs and looked down awkwardly at her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said.

Inge sighed. “Backwards,” she said, “You placed the rune for healing a slashing wound on three hundred rune-stones, but you placed them _backwards_.”

“I’ll work extra to make up the numbers,” Eir said.

“A backwards rune would cause a slashing wound to open up further. I had to order two of the other healers to check every stone in the stockpile to make sure none of them were sent out,” Inge said.

Eir twisted her hands together. “I really am sorry,” she said. “I got distracted thinking about how wounds that have rough edges heal faster than those with smooth cuts, and then I was wondering whether it would be possible to modify the rune to create a rough edge where there was previously a smooth one, and I just… I’m really sorry.”

“You have a great deal of potential, Eir, that’s why I took you on. You have quite a bit of magic, but you get distracted too easily, and then you panic. You should have reported your mistake immediately instead of trying to find all the faulty stones with a single spell,” Inge said.

Eir cringed. “I didn’t mean for it to do what it did. Are Groa and Estrid alright?”

“They will be fine, but you need to stop and think things through,” Inge said. “What are you going to do when it comes time to cast a healing spell? I know you know them all, but will you even be of use when the wounded come in?”

“Wounded? As in, freshly wounded?” Eir squeaked.

“We’ve been ordered to prepare for emergency casualties by General Solveig. I don’t know what is being planned, but the wounded are expected to be transported back to Asgard rather than the field hospitals,” Inge said. “And with so many of our healers off world, we may need everyone we can get. Can I trust you, Eir? Can you keep your head long enough to help or should I keep you running for supplies like the trainee Valkyrie? I could put you with the little ones and make you fetch bandages.”

“Please Inge, no, I’ll do better,” Eir begged. “I’m meant to be a healer, I know I am, I’ve always felt called to it, please let me prove it!”

Inge sighed deeply. “I believe you. From the moment you arrived I thought you had what it took to be a healer, and a great one at that, but you are on your last chance, Eir, I cannot give you another, I shouldn’t even be giving you this one. Don’t waste it.”

Eir nodded. “I promise,” she swore.

She left Inge’s office and made her way back to the healer’s main room, avoiding eye contact with everyone until she sat down back next to Frigga, who was just starting to pack up for the day.

“Everything alright?” Frigga asked.

Eir sighed. “I didn’t mean it,” she said. “I was doing really well before I came here. I studied plants and magic and the way cells interact. I was a researcher and I was good at it. But here all I see are things that could be better, but I can’t do anything about any of them because we have a war to fight,” she said. “I’ve read Princess Anima’s papers on the regeneration of cells a dozen times. I’m simply dying to ask her about it, I’ve got so many questions, but there’s never any time.”

“We have a duty right now,” Frigga said. “They’ll be time later.”

“I don’t think I’m meant to be a healer after all,” Eir said in a depressed tone. “All my life I’ve felt a… a calling to it, but now that it’s in front of me the call feels so far away.”

Frigga gave her a hug around the shoulders. “Don’t be discouraged,” she said. “Maybe you aren’t meant to work in a healer’s chambers, but that idea you had of a wide-spread rune-stone that can heal multiple people at once was very innovative.”

“If I had time to research it,” Eir said.

“Come on, the feast is in half an hour, let’s go and freshen up,” Frigga said.

****

The Great Hall was half empty, as so many warriors were away. Some of the tables were filled with returning Valkyrie, which made Commander Lomax flinch to see them all. The Valkyrie did not usually eat in at the feasts unless they were being honoured. Bor preferred to fight alongside the army and more often than not would invite those he had recently fought in battle with to join him for dinner afterwards. For now though he had made the decision to honour the women who would shortly be breaking the Dwarven stranglehold on their realm.

Odin escorted Frigga to the high table and they sat together with smiles on their faces. Bor saw them together and grinned as he turned to his other side, where Nal and Anima sat.

“New mother soon, do you think?” he asked them.

“If it makes Father happy,” Nal replied, “Although I can’t imagine calling anyone Mother.”

“They are good for each other,” Anima said. “Frigga is calm and strong in all the ways Father is not, and the reverse is also true, as far as I can see.”

Bor nodded. “I want to see him happy,” he said. “My son has not been lucky with his wives, which is a pity.”

Nal and Anima both nodded without commenting. Odin had been married twice, and windowed twice. There was not much to add other than agreement.

“That thing up there is Hela’s design, isn’t it?” Bor said, looking up at the large mural that decorated the dome above where they sat.

“She put heavy emphasis on Father,” Anima said, “And look, mortal slaves.”

Bor was not the kind of man who felt shame, and so his only reaction was to shrug. “They helped in their own way,” he said.

“She’s used brown paint from Bjorn’s shop,” Nal said disapprovingly, “It’ll fade to white in five hundred years, Bjorn’s paints are nowhere near good enough for long term work.”

“It can be touched up,” Bor said.

“It’s ugly,” Anima said.

“Not like you to be so sour,” Bor said, sounding annoyed.

“I’m looking up at mortal slaves,” Anima said.

Bor grunted and stabbed his knife into his steak. “Well, your mother put a stop to it anyway, and the palace ended up being finished late.”

Anima went to comment further but Nal put a hand on her arm.

 _Don’t,_ she thought, _There’s no point._

 _He’s so casual about it,_ Anima thought back. _No one should be casual about slaves_

 _I agree, but right now upsetting him will not end well,_ Nal thought. _Like it or not he is the king and he can make all our lives very difficult if he gets angry._

 _Can I put a frog in his bed?_ Anima thought with just a trace of her usual humour.

 _I’ll help you,_ Nal promised.

Commander Lomax rose from his seat and headed across to where Tyr sat. He passed through the spot in the centre of the Great Hall which still bore the traces of Nal’s loss of control fifty years earlier, which had been the whole reason the Great Hall required refurbishment in the first place.

He yelped as he passed through the cold, which even after so long caused a chill down to the bones of the unwary. He shot Nal a look of hatred as he hurried quickly away from the spot.

Bor chuckled. “In better times I’d quite like to see an ambassador walk through that spot,” he said. “They’re always so pompous maybe it’ll shake them up a bit.” 

“If we make peace with Nidavellir you can have that moment even sooner,” Nal said.

“No,” Bor answered, sounding annoyed again, “No peace until Eitri is dead.”


	7. Plots and Schemes

The following morning Anima arrived early at her workstation. She had done almost nothing the day before and despite her personal feelings on the uselessness of the war, there were still people out there on the battlefield who didn’t deserve to die because she felt like slacking off.

People like Daianya, who would be home soon, although unfortunately only so she could go charging off into yet another bloody fight.

Anima and Nal both tried to avoid talking to Daianya via their thoughts too much these days, they never knew when she would be in the middle of something life-threatening which would require all of her focus. It wasn’t easy, their strongest thoughts would break through no matter what due to the strength of their connection, but they tried their best, and sent letters instead.

I wonder if she misses our conversations the way I miss hers?” Anima thought to herself as she set out fresh stones.

The door at the far end of the room opened and Eir walked in. She stopped when she saw Anima sitting there. “Oh, I thought no one would be in so early,” she said.

“I wanted to get a head start after slacking off yesterday,” Anima said, “What brings you here?”

“I have three hundred faulty runes to make up for,” Eir said, coming over and slumping into her seat. “I never mean to get distracted, it’s just that I feel so… I feel as though I should be doing something else, but I’ve always wanted to be a healer, so what else is there?”

Anima smiled genuinely for the first time in days. Eir was technically just over a thousand years old, but to Anima’s century-old eyes she was barely an adult, the older Anima got the more obvious the slow pace of Asgardian development became. “I think you could be a great healer, you know everything about everything, from what I’ve seen,” she said.

“I read a lot, and I question a lot, but I’m not good in situations like this. I keep feeling as though I’m standing still, and I shouldn’t be,” Eir said. “I always thought this was the right path for me. I used to tell my brother that I had a calling, but what’s the point of having a calling when whatever is at the other end won’t call back?”

“I think you’ve got that backwards,” Anima said.

“Like the rune-stones,” Eir said resignedly.

“No, I mean, when you have a calling, something must be calling you. If it’s not working out, it’s because you’re the one not answering,” Anima said. “You need to find out where this feeling is trying to take you. Maybe it’s close to healing, like healer research, maybe you’ll actually do really well in a high stress situation but you don’t know it yet because it hasn’t happened, you have to stick with it until you find out otherwise you’ll spend your life thinking that something is missing, and you’ll be right.”

“But until then, I have stones to make up for,” Eir said.

“Me too,” Anima said as they both bent their heads to their tasks.

****

Odin was struggling to rise. He was tired and growing even more so, but he didn’t want to sleep just yet. The upcoming battle was one of the most important of the war so far, and while he had been banned from the battlefield itself, should the attack fail the Dwarfs would almost certainly invade Asgard as quickly as possible. Odin didn’t want to be asleep if that happened, and so he wrestled with himself. Did he want to hold off sleep until he knew Asgard was safe? Or did he want to sleep now and risk still being unconscious when the battle commenced? He usually slept for a full day, but he’d been known to go longer when he was exceptionally worn out, and in the last year he had really pushed himself.

No, stay awake, be as ready as he could be. Certainly if he slept and woke in time for the battle then he could join it, but the consequences of oversleeping were too great.

With a great deal of effort and more groaning than he would have liked, Odin pushed himself up off the bed and went to get ready for the day. He began to feel better after eating breakfast and headed off to the King’s working area to see if Bor had any duties for him.

Nal was already there, sitting at what used to be Odin’s regular desk and drafting papers with an expression of serious concentration. Bor himself was reading over other reports and signing off on various things are quickly as he could, while Vili, who was sitting off to the side and looking bored, gave him a smile and a wave in greeting.

Odin walked further into the room. “Father? Is there anything I can help with?” he asked.

“No,” Bor said without looking up. “Just go and get your sleep already.”

“I’m not quite ready yet,” Odin said.

“Spend some time relaxing then, Nal’s covered all the important things already and I’m almost done as it is,” Bor said. He looked up into Odin’s slightly hurt face and sighed. “You’ve been fighting non-stop for a year, my son, go and relax. Go and see that lady of yours, you’ll be back on the front lines soon enough so you might as well make the time now.”

“Frigga will be in the small training yard,” Nal said. “She teaches a class on self-defence there every week.”

“She does?” Odin asked.

Nal nodded. “I asked her to. There are a lot of people at court who have never picked up a sword. In the event of a full scale attack it pays to have people trained, even minimally. I myself would struggle to hold off a fully trained warrior but the swordsmanship training I have learnt and kept current over the years might be the difference between death and escape.”

“Nal’s had a lot of good ideas while you were gone, Brother,” Vili said.

“More than you,” Bor muttered, but Vili just ignored him.

“Oh, well, if you are certain,” Odin said, glancing between Bor and Nal.

“Go,” Bor said. His tone was firm but his eyes were kind as Odin turned and left the room. “That boy needs some more fun in his life,” he added.

Nal and Vili exchanged looks across the room. Fun was for peacetime, but neither of them wanted to be the one to say it.

“He does seem very taken with Frigga, and she with him,” Nal said instead.

“Good, maybe he’ll make a wife out of her and we’ll see a few more children about the place,” Bor said. “Yggdrasil knows Hela’s not going to stand for a growing life inside of her, Daianya might in time if she can find a man willing to donate seed without causing a fuss among the court later on, and you and Anima are…”

He trailed off somewhat awkwardly.

“Not popular with Asgardian men?” Nal filled in for him.

“Nothing wrong with a blue wife,” Bor said gruffly, “But you’re spoken for. You’re going to be the next ruler of Jotunheim.”

“Not if someone else conquers the Cave of Kings before Grundroth dies,” Nal said.

“If someone does then you’ll need to fight for it,” Bor said. “We buy all our steel from Jotunheim and I won’t have that trade jeopardised in the middle of a war.”

Nal opened her mouth to protest but then shut it again. Arguing with the King was a futile effort. “Grundroth has a good few centuries left,” she said instead, “Hopefully the war will be over before he reaches the end of his life.”

Bor just grunted.

****

Laufey, son of Morag and currently least popular person in King Grundroth’s court on Jotuneheim, knelt down on the icy floor and swept up the pile of shit someone’s pet wesstle had left there.

“Make sure you scrape it all up, you don’t want me telling the King on you,” said Pirit with a laugh. Pirit was a bully who greatly enjoyed Laufey’s status as the king’s punching bag. 

Far away on his throne, Grundroth was busy talking to General Thrym. Laufey briefly considered biting back but thought the better of it. All it would take was one little complaint and he’d be out shovelling Grur shit again.

Granted that was probably going to happen anyway, Grundroth never let him go long without being knee deep in the stuff.

There was a hush that went over the hall and Laufey had to supress a smile. There was only one person who could cause such a reaction in the King’s Court.

Amora had arrived. She had arrived in Jotunheim two years earlier and in the last two years had managed to completely bewitch the king. Vanir, with pale pink skin, long blond hair and sparkling green eyes, she was undeniably beautiful even to the Jotnir, who normally preferred their women in shades of blue. She had a way of moving that instantly attracted the attention of everyone, and even the calm and steady Thrym swallowed slightly as she slinked her way to Grundroth’s side.

“My darling,” Grundroth said, holding out a hand with a smile.

Amora took it and placed a kiss on the palm in an intimate fashion. Every man in the room bit back a sigh of longing. 

“My King,” she said in a voice like a purr.

“How are you today?” Grundroth asked, “Is the bathing room I built for you warm enough?”

“Come and find out,” Amora suggested with a seductive smile. 

Amora had been the second best thing that had ever cross Laufey’s path in life. Cast out and almost frozen to death, he had found her huddled in the rubbish heap trying to stay alive. It had been him who had snuck her back into the palace and introduced her to his brothers, and him who had given them all instructions on how to engineer her meeting with the King.

Grundroth had completely forgotten Thrym was standing there, he was so caught up in Amora’s smile and the way she moved as she slid into the seat next to him. 

Amora, Laufey had discovered within minutes of meeting her, had an almost pathological hatred of any form of privilege granted to anyone by virtue of their birth. She’d never said why, but when he’d said that he’d like to kill the king she’d been all for it. Many a night had been spent talking about how a shared system of government which included people who’d proven their competency was the best way forwards for Jotunheim, and eventually the rest of the nine realms. The only snag had been when Laufey revealed that Jotun Kings did not in fact inherit their crown and actually had to pass a test to sit on the throne, but the blatant nepotism at Grundroth’s court had been the deciding factor in Amora becoming a loyal ally to Laufey’s cause.

Officially, Grundroth had found her out in the snow during a hunt. She’d begged him for help and he’d taken her back to the palace, now she was almost permanently fixed to his side.

“Shall we go now?” she asked him quietly.

“My King, the issue with the ranks?” Thrym asked.

“Solve it,” Grundroth said, “Use what you need, I trust you Thrym.”

He rose from his throne and escorted Amora out of the room.

“She’s so enchanting,” said Pirit, forgetting who he was speaking to.

Personally Laufey was torn. She was very appealing, even with the pink skin, but there was one woman he held above all others, and it wasn’t Amora. 

Princess Nal of Asgard, a Jotun woman raised far away. She’d been kind to him when they’d first met, and he still burned for her inside. Her conquering the Cave of Kings had only cemented his admiration, and no matter how seductive Amora was, no matter how she smiled and purred and her eyes twinkled, the only woman Laufey wanted to serve in the bedroom or out of it, was Nal.

****

Frigga paced back and forth in front of the group of women in the training yard and called out instructions. The group of women obeyed her in tandem, their practice swords clashing together over and over again as they went through the motions.

Commander Lomax and Lord Elbin stood side by side on the balcony and watched from above with identical looks of derision on their faces.

“He really likes this one?” Lord Elbin said.

“I’ve suspected it for a while, he spends a great deal of time with her every time he returns to Asgard, but last night I realised it was serious when he invited her to sit by his side at the high royal table,” Commander Lomax said. “He’s falling for her.”

“Another woman who would be a warrior,” Lord Elbin said with a heavy sigh. “It appears our crown prince has a type.”

“The wrong type,” Lomax replied.

“Indeed,” Lord Elbin said. “I must consider what to do about it.”

“Is there anything that can be done? If she is his choice then surely he must know what he is doing? All men know their own minds,” Lomax said.

Lord Elbin gave an elegant shrug. “All men _should_ know their own minds, but our dear prince has been led astray once before, and I suspect I know who by.”

“Loki,” Lomax said without hesitation. “There are rumours he is no man himself, but something in between a man and a woman.”

“I have also heard those rumours,” Lord Elbin said. “It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.”

“She’s well connected,” Lomax said, “Her mother is a good friend of the Vanir Queen, and her brother is a powerful lord.”

“Pity,” Lord Elbin said, “But expected. Most of the woman at court have… protection of some kind.”

“And the princesses?” Lomax asked. “Are they as protected as they think they are?”

“The biggest concern has always been Hela,” Lord Elbin said, “She cannot be killed, do we even know if she ages? Has anyone ever considered that she might not? What will Asgard be like under such leadership?”

“We might capture her,” Lomax said, dropping his voice even more. 

“I know that there are spells, powerful spells, that may well do so, as long as Anima is around they will be impossible to cast successfully,” Lord Elbin said. “We must wait for the mortal to die.”

“If she dies,” Lomax said. “She reversed her aging years ago and hasn’t seemed to be bothered much by it since.”

Lord Elbin frowned. “How long do mortals live?” he asked.

“Between one hundred and one hundred and fifty years,” Lomax said, “Although since the Titan war that number has gone down considerably, a fair amount due to the conditions the mortals now live in, but their lifeforces also seem to be shorter than they used to be. Perhaps Yggdrasil doesn’t have as much to give.”

“How old is Anima?” Lord Elbin asked.

“One hundred years old, and born at the end of the war so she ought to have a shortened lifeforce like the others,” Lomax said. “She should look withered by now, but she doesn’t.”

“This is very concerning, I didn’t know she had used magic to reverse her aging, this may cause all of our plans to fail permanently,” Lord Elbin said, sounding worried.

“Not necessarily,” Lomax said, “At the war council I discovered a weakness that we have not considered, one identified by her own father.”

“Oh?” Lord Elbin said.

“She cannot detect magic when she is sleeping, in fact she is completely vulnerable,” Lomax said. “If a sleeping spell should be cast over the palace in the dead of night, well, then, hours would pass by with no interruption, traps could be engaged… annoyances could be dealt with.”

Lord Elbin smiled slowly. “There would need to be a scapegoat,” he said, “Someone willing to die for the cause even once they were caught.”

“There’re a lot of sheep in the ranks,” Lomax said. “I’ll find a few and start making them feel… special.”

Lord Elbin smiled. “I will have my loyalists start researching ways to trap a goddess in such a way that she cannot escape.”

“That will lead to Daianya on the throne, which is less concerning than Hela but still not ideal,” Lomax said.

“Oh no, my dear brother in arms, Daianya is almost as unsuitable as Hela, and Nal even less so again. If a sleeping spell is going to be cast upon the palace, by morning there will be no princesses left at all,” Lord Elbin said.


	8. A Family United

The Bifrost had been activating all morning, depositing returning Valkyrie who filed into the nearby barracks with swift efficiency. 

The latest arrivals included Daianya, Tarah, Norah and Meydee, who all gave a similar sigh of relief.

“That’s the smell I missed,” Meydee said, “The gardens of the palace just fill the air with sweetness.”

Daianya wasn’t listening, she was too busy looking across the courtyard where Nal and Anima were standing, waiting for her.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said to Tarah.

“Just go, I need to find my mother and sister anyway,” Tarah replied.

Daianya charged across the courtyard and threw her arms around her sisters.

“Welcome home,” Anima said.

“You look hungry,” Nal added.

“I’m leaner than I used to be, but far from undernourished, constant battle doesn’t leave any room for excess padding,” Daianya said.

“Unlike me, who is all extra padding,” Anima said jokingly.

Strictly speaking this was a lie. None of the princesses were overweight, but where Daianya had the solid core and well-built arms of a warrior, and Nal had the more slender muscular structure of a finesse fighter, Anima had the softness of someone who had never picked up a sword in her life. As a result of their respective choices, all three of them had ended up with slightly different silhouettes.

“You’re nicer to hug,” Daianya pointed out, which made Anima grin.

“Where’s Tarah?” Nal asked.

“Trying to find her family. She hasn’t seen any of them in more than fifteen years,” Daianya said. “Little Brunnhilde must be quite different by now.”

“Well I’ve asked for some lunch in the blue sitting room, come in and tell us about where you’ve been,” Nal said, leading the way inside.

Daianya glanced back, but couldn’t see Tarah anymore and so followed her sisters inside.

“I’ve missed this place,” she said as they walked through to the private areas of the palace. “Asgard feels like no other world. I feel grounded here.”

“Well, that’s a pretty normal reaction for a god,” Anima said, “Your connection to Yggdrasil is strongest here. Plus it is your home.”

“How are you?” Daianya asked gently, “I’m sorry to hear about Senan.”

Anima sighed. “It was his time, I don’t suppose you could confirm that his soul made it safely to Tír na nÓg?”

Daianya’s eyes began to glow with orange light and she tilted her head around, scanning a realm that the others couldn’t see. “He’s there,” she said, “Safe and sound and under Yggdrasil’s protection.”

Anima let out her held breath. “I can relax now,” she said. “I miss him badly already, but knowing he’s safe makes it easier.”

“I’m sorry you never got to be together the way you wanted,” Daianya said.

“You should have run off as soon as he was free,” Nal said.

“And leave Asgard with a shortage of healing runes?” Anima said, “You know I couldn’t do that, any more than you could run off with Loki, we both know he’s offered.”

Nal looked up into the knowing eyes of her sisters. “I wouldn’t anyway, not until I know I can trust him,” she said.

“I think you can,” Anima said. “He’s the one who doesn’t trust you.”

“I’ve noticed,” Nal said dryly.

She pushed open the door to the sitting room and Daianya almost moaned with happiness at the sight of the spread set out on the table. “I’m about to gain so much padding,” she said.

“Field rations really that bad?” Anima asked sympathetically.

“They’re fine, but they’re not _this_ ,” Daianya said.

The three of them sat down and started eating. 

“How is Father?” Daianya asked after a minute.

“In love, in desperate need of some sleep, stubbornly refusing to get it over with,” Nal said.

“Still Frigga?” Daianya asked and received two nods in reply. “I honestly didn’t see it coming; she seemed completely uninterested in courtly life when I met her.”

“She’s good at it,” Nal said, “And she really seems to love him back, so I guess she decided all the court stuff was worth it.”

“She’s very talented with magic,” Anima said, “And she can wield a sword.”

“Best of both worlds,” Nal said. “Have you been told why you’ve been called back to Asgard?” she added to Daianya.

“No, but it doesn’t take a genius. The ships are heading back here too, and half our force is ordered to return. We’re launching at attack directly from Asgard, and whatever it is, it’s nearby so the ships can act as support,” Daianya said.

“Asgard is blockaded,” Nal told her. “They’ve been preventing any ships from getting through for months and their supply base is making it impossible to drive their ships back. Ground troops with take the base, ships will break the blockade.”

Daianya’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know about the blockade,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You’re hard to get a hold of without a prior arrangement,” Nal said. “The last thing either of us want is to distract you in the middle of a battle.”

Daianya shook her head slightly in disbelief, “But still, a blockade of months? That’s serious, Nal.”

“I know, I’ve been the one dealing with it,” Nal said. “Fair warning, the King is recalling Hela to help with this one. She’s due back any time.”

Daianya grimaced. “I haven’t had to deal with her in years,” she said.

“None of us have, as soon as she headed out to battle she refused to come home. I don’t think she actually needs to rest, she just charges up from the death all around her,” Anima said.

“She’s unstable,” Nal said. “One day I’m afraid she’ll turn on Asgard itself.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Daianya said, “I mean, she might _want_ to do that, but she draws her power from here the same as the rest of us, she wouldn’t jeopardise that, surely?”

All three of them stopped and considered Hela for a moment.

“I hope Father’s ready to stand against her,” Nal said into the vaguely disturbed silence, “Because I’m not convinced anyone else has the power to.”

“I’m pretty sure I could blast her body into atoms so that there’s no life-code left to facilitate her reforming,” Anima said, “But I’m also pretty sure her soul will just find someone else to possess until it forces that person’s body to become hers again.”

Anima and Nal both looked at Daianya.

“Hela’s soul is linked to Yggdrasil and thus to her power,” Daianya confirmed, “But that would slow her down for a few centuries.”

“A few centuries without Hela, how nice,” Nal said.

“Maybe some kind of repeating blasting spell,” Anima mused.

“Maybe we should let father deal with it. He’s the God of War and Victory, give him long enough and he will always find a way to win,” Daianya said.

Nal shrugged, her expression was one of disbelief.

“You doubt his power?” Daianya asked.

“No, but I doubt that every conflict ever in the history of conflicts has a winning outcome,” Nal said. “Sometimes no matter what you do you will lose, and I don’t think Father has any idea how to response in a situation like that.”

“I hope this war isn’t one of those,” Anima said. “It’s gone on long enough already.”

“The Jotun war lasted for a thousand years,” Nal said.

“Yes, and look where it got everyone,” Anima said. 

“I agree with you, but neither side is looking for peace at the moment,” Daianya said, “And the blockade must be broken.”

Anima sighed, “The older I get, the younger everyone else seems,” she said. 

****

Tarah found Brunnhilde hard at work rolling bandages as though they had personally offended her.

“Don’t wrap them so tight that the healers can’t unravel them again,” she said.

Brunnhilde looked up and gave an excited squeak. She was about seven years old, and as a younger trainee Valkyrie she’d been left behind in the barracks on Asgard while her sister and mother had gone to war.

“You’re here!” she shrieked and jumped up to run into Tarah’s arms.

“I’m here,” Tarah confirmed with a laugh. “Have you been behaving yourself?”

“Define behaving,” Brunnhilde said with all the pomp of a child who knows a new word and is determined to use it until she wore it out.

“Mother is expected back soon, is she going to be proud?” Tarah asked.

Brunnhilde nodded confidently. “I’ve been very helpful, and I’ve kept up my training, and I took on extra duties, and I didn’t make fun of Tyr’s stupid True Men obsession even once, even though it really is stupid.”

Tarah smothered a grin, “I’m glad to hear it,” she said. “Wait, Tyr? Son of General Hymir Tyr?”

Brunnhilde nodded. “He reads their pamphlets in the yard sometimes and I caught him, but I didn’t tease him because I’m too old for teasing now.”

“Good,” Tarah said, “Although Mother will want to know what exactly you saw him doing.”

“Why?” Brunnhilde asked.

“Because she and General Hymir are friends,” Tarah said, “And he’ll want to know that his son is reading rubbish like the True Men’s pamphlets.”

“Oh, why?” Brunnhilde asked.

“Because the True Men are, without exception, idiots,” Tarah said. “They want to disband the Valkyrie and make us all wives and mothers _and nothing else_.”

Brunnhilde stuck her tongue out in disgust. “Fat chance. I’m going to be the General of the Valkyrie one day, and then I shall round them all up and punish them,” she said.

Not actually within the General’s scope of power, but I like the attitude,” Tarah said.

“Are you staying for a while?” Brunnhilde asked.

“I’m not sure, I know there’s a battle coming, but after that I don’t get to decide where I go or when,” Tarah said.

Brunnhilde sighed. “I know,” she said, “I just missed you, a bit, a little bit, not a lot though, because older sisters are annoying.”

“I missed you too,” Tarah said.

****

Later that night the Bifrost activated again, only this time it was through the smaller, public entrance at the end of the long rainbow bridge. Hela appeared alone and immediately walked forward past the guards without acknowledging them. The palace was lit up and looked majestic under the stars, but she barely noticed. Instead she sighed openly and felt a shift inside of her as her connection to Yggdrasil strengthened. It had been years since she’d felt so effortlessly powerful. For a moment she considered killing the guards behind her just for fun, but she managed to stop the impulse just in time.

It was more difficult than she remembered. Being surrounded by death for so long had made her feel freer than she ever had to follow her whims. Every battlefield was another chance to indulge in her darkest impulses, whereas being back on Asgard meant trying to be restrained all over again.

Once she was queen there would be war every day. The Asgardian army would conquer the nine realms and bring them under control, and then they would expand outwards to the stars, killing and conquering in equal measure.

One day she might even feel satisfied, although she doubted it. Her hunger was ever-present. 

Hela reached the flyers at the far end and shooed the pilot out with a wave of her hand. He practically jumped over the side in fear of her and she allowed herself a slow smile as she started the engine. She flew back to the palace, ignoring the challenges called out to her and only slowing when it became clear that the guards were ready to blow her out of the sky unless they received confirmation of her status.

Confirmation was given and a few pants were wet in the process, and Hela touched down on the landing pad outside the palace walls.

She sauntered into the palace and made her way to the Great Hall, where the nightly feast was in full swing.

She walked through the doors at the far end and took a moment to enjoy the way the chatter hushed as she made her way up the length of the room towards the high table.

The effect was slightly ruined when she reached the freezing spot in the centre of the walkway, which she had forgotten about. She jumped slightly and shot a look of annoyance at Nal, who was sitting between her sisters and staring Hela down with barely concealed hostility.

There was a woman sitting by Odin’s side, Hela frowned in confusion, had Father found someone knew? When had he found time for that? Come to think of it, Daianya had a woman sitting next to her as well, was everyone running around finding _love?_ Didn’t they know there was a war on?”

“Your Majesty,” Hela said as she reached the table.

“Hela, good to see you, take a seat,” Bor said. “There’s still plenty.”

Hela walked slowly around the table and to where she usually sat. The chair was occupied by her Uncle Vili, who saw her coming and rose. “I was just finishing up,” he said and left with a bow.

Hela say down, suddenly feeling unsettled; all around her were changes, new faces, new dynamics. She’d not been back in fifty years and for the first time she wondered if that had been a mistake.

“Father,” she greeted.

“Hela, my daughter, you look well,” Odin said. “Do you remember Frigga? You would have seen her on Vanaheim once just after the Titan attack.”

Truthfully Hela did not. She didn’t cared much for anyone at the best of times, but she forced a smile onto her face anyway. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Frigga,” she said.

“And you, your Grace,” Frigga said politely.

“And who is sitting with Daianya?” Hela asked.

“Tarah Herjasdottir,” Odin said, “They got together just before the war started.”

Hela raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know that,” she said.

“It wasn’t exactly public knowledge for a while,” Odin said, “You’d already left Asgard.”

Hela shrugged. She didn’t really care what her sisters did with their lives, but she was annoyed at being left out.

“Anything else I should know?” she asked. “Is Nal getting married to Grundroth yet? Or has she found someone younger and less filled with crevasses? The King hasn’t found a new wife, has he?” 

“No one else has a partner of any kind,” Odin confirmed.

Hela sighed, “Good, I don’t want to learn any more new names,” she said. “The Great Hall looks good. I sent the designs back as I thought of them.”

Odin looked around. Most of the hall was fairly tame by Asgardian standards. High columns and decorative architecture was all around them, mostly covered in gold of course. The centrepiece of the hall, the painted dome, was a little ostentatious for his tastes, and heavily favoured himself and Hela, but Bor had liked it and so it had stayed.

“Yes, very well done,” Odin said.

Hela smiled. “I wanted to show our might,” she said.

Odin looked up at the fresco again. “Well, it does do that,” he said.


	9. Relationships

Later that night Daianya lay in bed yawning heavily.

“You’re right about the bed,” Tarah said from beside her, “Princesses get _fantastic_ mattresses.”

Daianya grinned. “You didn’t have to climb all those stairs though just because I did,” she said.

“Yes I did,” Tarah replied. “I didn’t enjoy it, but I wasn’t going to leave you to do them all alone. Why do you always take the stairs anyway?”

“I promised General Solveig I would,” Daianya said.

“When? And Why?”

“Back when I started training, and because she said I needed to get into fighting condition,” Daianya said.

“That was eighty years ago, I bet she’d forgive you if you stopped,” Tarah said, fighting a yawn.

“Probably, but I wouldn’t, I keep my promises,” Daianya said.

“I spoke to Brunnhilde before, she’s exactly the same as always, only taller,” Tarah said, snuggling closer in Daianya’s arms. “She was spying on Tyr.”

“Her arch-nemesis,” Daianya said in as serious a tone as she could manage.

“Apparently he’s been reading a bunch of True Men’s Alliance propaganda,” Tarah said. 

“Ugh,” Daianya said. “Do you know back when I met him he seemed like a normal boy? He even showed me footage of berserkers in the library once. He was always a bit full of himself, but True Men’s Alliance? Has anyone told his father?”

“General Hymir is barely on Asgard,” Tarah said. “Tyr is living alone with only the Commander in Charge to watch over him. Right now that’s Commander Lomax, he’s still recovering from his battle wound.”

“We might have to report it to Commander Lomax then. I know General Hymir is not a fan of the True Men’s Alliance, he thinks they’re dangerous,” Daianya said.

 _Don’t bother with Lomax, he’s a member of that bloody playgroup,_ thought Nal in Daianya’s head.

Daianya pulled a face. “Or maybe not,” she said. “We should tell General Solveig and let her handle it, she’s worked with General Hymir for centuries and I know they respect each other, she’ll know what to do better than anyone.”

Tarah sighed and reached out a hand to stroke Daianya’s curls. “I know I brought him up, but did you know there are a million things more interesting to talk about then Tyr?” she said.

Daianya chuckled. “Why yes I did know that. Did you know that it’s late and we should be sleeping?”

Tarah shrugged. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” she said, leaning in for a slow kiss. 

“That does sound like a tempting plan,” Daianya said when they broke apart.

“Are you sure your sisters can’t hear anything?” Tarah asked softly.

 _Not a thing, I reinforced the walls to make them soundproof decades ago,_ Anima thought in Daianya’s head.

 _And yet, somehow, you’ve managed to defeat that purpose anyway,_ Daianya thought back. _Try to stay out please._

There was silence, which she took as agreement as Tarah trailed her hands down the length of Daianya’s body and slowly slid her nightdress up over her thighs.

****

Anima rolled over sleepily and tried to think about other things. It wasn’t impossible to block the thoughts of her sisters, but it wasn’t always easy and usually required actively thinking about something else, which was quite difficult when she was tired and wanted a blank mind to fall asleep to. Instead she thought more about the last hundred years. Without meaning to her hand crept upwards until she clasped the pendant around her neck. She almost spoke Senan’s name before she remembered that he would never answer her again and she sighed hard.

The pendant had been a gift for her coming of age eighty years earlier. Originally there had been one pendant with one diamond, three emeralds and three rubies. It had been the only thing left after her mother’s death, and Odin had arranged for the stones to be reset into three pendants, one for each daughter.

Anima frowned in thought. It had never occurred to her before, but… did her mother even know she existed? Yrsa had burned up her lifeforce in order to channel a powerful energy weapon down into Yggdrasil’s branches in order to stop it from destroying Asgard. At the time she’d been pregnant with one child, which the girls had later discovered had been Nal. Anima and Daianya’s existence had come about as a result of Yggdrasil’s direct intervention at the moment Yrsa died. So there was a distinct possibility that Yrsa had never even knew that one child had become three.

Did that make Yggdrasil her and Daianya’s real mother? Anima thought. It had made hem for a purpose, all gods had a purpose, although finding it wasn’t always obvious. Anima still didn’t have any idea what hers was supposed to be, only that she’d always felt deep down inside as though she had to remain on Asgard. 

Come to think of it, she hadn’t felt that way in a while, since the war had started she’d remained out of duty rather than Yggdrasil’s will, but tonight she suddenly felt that way again. 

Daianya was back, maybe whatever they had been made to do they had to do it together, and that was why Anima felt the way she did?

But Daianya had come home before and Anima hadn’t felt this way then.

With a sigh of annoyance at the mysterious ways of Yggdrasil, Anima rolled over and tried to fall asleep.

But honestly, why couldn’t Yggdrasil just tell her what it wanted? Would that be so hard?

Maybe. Maybe if Yggdrasil ever tried to speak directly to her, her head would explode. It was a _very_ powerful being after all.

“I hope I figure what you wanted soon,” Anima said softly. “You made me a goddess, but I am still only mortal after all.”

****

Nal was wide awake downstairs, working on the complex requirements of suddenly feeding half an army that had returned with only the bags on their backs. The food supplies they had been using were on board their ships, which made them useless for the women staying on Asgard.

With a sigh she crossed through a delivery of excess grain to one of the outer regions and wrote in a new directive to send it to the palace. The outer regions weren’t doing too badly given that was where land was more plentiful and people tended to have their own gardens in addition to the shop supplies.

“Still awake?” said Loki by the door.

“I’m not tired yet,” Nal said. Even as a child she had needed far less sleep than the average Asgardian.

“Can that wait?” Loki asked.

“Not for long,” Nal said.

He perched on a chair and sat in silence. After a minute she looked up at him. “What are you doing?”

“Waiting for you to be finished,” he said.

“In silence,” Nal said, “I didn’t know you were capable of it.”

“Silence is usually boring, but on rare occasions I find myself enjoying it. I think it must be the company,” Loki said.

Nal rolled her eyes and turned back to her work. To her surprise Loki remained sitting quietly, he seemed relaxed and at ease, not at all like the endless ball of energy he usually was.

“Are you feeling alright?” Nal asked him. “You look calm, and that’s not a natural state for you to be in.”

“You make me calm,” Loki said with a smile.

“Why don’t you trust me?” Nal asked him.

She saw the closed look come over his eyes instantly, even as he took his time to reply. “I do trust you,” he said. “But some things are between a god and his creator.”

“Yggdrasil?” Nal asked.

“Close, my mother,” Loki said.

Nal sighed and turned back to her work. Loki waited in silence until she was finished and stood up as she was putting things away. 

“Will you walk with me?” he asked.

He escorted her up to one of the balconies of the palace, one that was far above most of the towers and overlooked the entire city. Despite the late hour light still glowed throughout the streets and houses.

“I was barely an adult the first time I walked Asgard’s streets,” Loki said. “It was too warm, too colourful, and the most exciting thing I’d ever seen. I fell in love with it instantly.”

“How long after the war ended was that?” Nal asked.

“I snuck in as a part of Bestla’s escort,” Loki said. “I wish I could say things were very different then, but the outright fighting gave way to a fragile peace and underlying hostility that remains to his day. Jotunheim and Asgard were always rivals at the best of times, once that rivalry gave way to open warfare it felt as though there would be no going back.”

“Peace has existed for a long time now,” Nal said.

“Peace brokered on a marriage that ended when Bestla died,” Loki said. “And ever since then things have changed. The amount of hostility is rising again.”

“Asgard is far too busy being at war with the Dwarfs to try and make war with Jotunheim,” Nal said. “Even the King isn’t that stupid. He needs Jotunheim steel.”

“Exactly,” Loki said. “He _needs_ it. What would he do to preserve that trade do you think? What action would he take?”

“He doesn’t need to take any action,” Nal said. “He’s got his trade deal and it’s working for both parties.”

“It would work better if the ruler of Jotunheim was more… invested, in a particular outcome,” Loki said.

Nal turned to face him. “You think King Bor will have Grundroth killed, and put me on the throne of Jotunheim, so as to drag Jotunheim into this war with the Dwarfs?” she asked.

“I knew you were clever,” Loki said. “Asgard isn’t doing as well as we all thought it would. Face it, everyone thought that the combined might of Asgard and Vanaheim would end this war inside of a decade, if not a year. Turns out Eitri and his generals are masterminds of strategy, not to mention their inventiveness. We’re not winning right now, we’re holding the line and that’s about all. Eitri and his men are throwing mechanical soldiers onto the battlefield and they can make thousands of them if they choose. We have no such weapons at our disposal. If we can’t end this war then pretty soon it will just be Hela left. I’m not saying she wouldn’t win, but no one else would be around to celebrate.”

“Father is the God of War and Victory,” Nal said. “If this war can be won, he’ll find the way.”

“And if it can’t be won?” Loki asked. “It’s been fifty years, the war with Jotunheim went for a thousand, but it was more of a series of battles punctuated by a lot of time to rearm. This war is nothing like that.”

“I’d prefer peace among the nine realms, definitely,” Nal said, “But I can’t see how I could achieve it. You should take your worries to Father.”

“I’m not asking you to achieve it, I’m warning you,” Loki said. “If Grundroth dies Bor _will_ send you to Jotunheim no matter how you feel about it, he will use you like a pawn without a thought for what you want. I want you to know that while I can’t stop him forcing you to leave Asgard, you don’t have to go to Jotunheim, I’ll take you anywhere in the universe.”

He was so close to her that she could feel his breath tickle her lips, but before she could do anything he pulled away, once again denying her his trust.

“I appreciate the offer,” Nal said, “But Grundroth is not unwell, and he has a king’s protection. It’s not impossible, but it is very unlikely that he will die soon. Even during the war with Asgard, no Jotun king was killed in private, the two that died did so openly on the battlefield.”

“I hope you are right,” Loki said. “I hope I’m worrying too much. But just remember that you always have another option.”

“If you don’t fall in battle,” Nal said.

“You have such little faith in me?” Loki said with his usual grin. “I promise you, my Princess, I will always return from battle.”

****

Laufey was almost asleep when he felt the presence at the door. He was on his feet instantly, a knife in his hand and his blankets falling to the floor, leaving him naked, but he relaxed when he saw who it was.

Amora was wrapped up in a thick fur coat that fell all the way to the ground. She gave him a seductive smile. “Good reflexes,” she said, “But if I wanted to kill you, I’d do it with magic from another room entirely. This part of the palace has no protections on it at all.”

“That’s because it’s an old slave dwelling,” Laufey said. “No one bothered to protect slaves.”

“I have brought you news,” Amora said. “The post for Master of the East is about to become available.”

Laufey frowned suspiciously. “How?” he asked.

Amora laughed. “Through natural means, I assure you, the outgoing Master made an appointment to speak to Grundroth and gave his resignation. He’s old and wants to spend his remaining years writing a book.”

Laufey began to grin. “This was better than I had hoped,” he said. “Assassination only works so many times before people begin to get suspicious, a resignation and retirement is perfect.”

“Your brother still needs to be assigned the post,” Amora said. “He’s got a challenger, Bergelmir, son of Atla. He’s been doing very good work as a second in charge under the Master of the West and Grundroth is considering him as well.”

Laufey snarled in annoyance. “We need my brother in that post,” he said. “We almost have a majority over the advisory council, which we need if we want the final stage of the plan to work.”

Amora slinked closer to him and stroked down his arm in a soothing fashion. “I’ll find a way to steer Grundroth in your brother’s direction,” she said.

Laufey turned to face her. “How?” he asked.

Amora shrugged and the coat fell off, underneath she was naked. “Well, Grundroth is a very possessive man,” she said. “He hates it when others spend a little too long looking in my direction.”

“Aren’t you cold,” Laufey asked her. “You were freezing when I found you and this room isn’t much better than the garbage dump.”

“You don’t spend two years on Jotunheim as a sorceress and not learn spells to keep yourself warm,” Amora said. She pressed herself against his body and Laufey gave in, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up until they could look one another in the eye.

He slowly lowered her back down again, but this time onto his cock, which had hardened at the sight of her naked body. Amora moaned in pleasure, she always did. Laufey honestly didn’t know if she was actually enjoying herself or not, she was too good of an actress for him to be sure, but she’d approached him the first time, and almost every time after that, so she had to be getting something out of it.

“I do love how quickly a Jotun man is ready to go,” she said as he lifted and lowered her again.

“Grundroth not enough for you?” Laufey asked.

“He can’t hit where you do,” she answered. “He leaves me all hot and bothered with… no release.”

Laufey rocked her up and down, enjoying the feel of her around him. He closed his eyes as they moved, and imagined a different woman on him. Nal, blue skin, long black hair, her red eyes fluttering with pleasure. He wanted her here. He wanted to please her. Amora was… Amora was practice.

He came when she did, both of them smothering their cries lest they be heard and some poor guard had to go missing. It had happened before but their plan was too important to risk with too many unexplained disappearances.

“That was exactly what I needed,” Amora said once they were done.

“I’m glad to be of service,” Laufey said dryly.

“How long after your brother takes his new position will we be ready to move?” Amora asked.

Laufey shook his head. “It’s close, but we need a majority to ensure a peaceful transition,” he said. “This will give us equal power, but the rest of the posts will be loyal to the old ways. One more post after this one will be enough, two would make it a certainty.”

Amora nodded. “Well, I’ve made it this far,” she said. “Grundroth gives me anything I desire.”

“He does, doesn’t he?” Laufey said.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Amora said. “I want him dead, I promise you.”

“You have no actual quarrel with him, and he does spoil you,” Laufey pointed out.

“I told you, I hate royalty, I hate people who gain power by virtue of who their parents are. Stupid men and women with no merits of their own running the realms because of an accident of birth,” Amora said. “Grundroth is just the beginning for me. Once Jotunheim is under the rule of the common people, I shall be moving on to bigger courts and bigger targets.”

Laufey held his tongue at the ‘bigger courts’ comment. Typical Vanir thinking though, Vanaheim and Asgard both liked to think they were better than the other realms.

“Will you require help?” he asked.

Amora smiled at him. “You did promise me a reward, remember? Jotun tears from the vault. With the power of them behind me I shan’t need to bother with subterfuge or seduction. It should be a nice change.”

Laufey smiled and gave her a bow. “My Lady,” he said. “I look forward to seeing the damage that you will do.”


	10. The Night Before

The path she was on twisted and turned, but it still headed ever downwards. Odin stood right on the edge of the drop. He was smiling at her with welcoming and loving eyes, and she knew it wasn’t just the downward slope that pulled her towards him. But off to her left there was still a field of flowers and light, a place of happiness if only she would divert. She recognised the flowers as those of Vanaheim. Home, she could go home, meet someone else, walk a different path.

As an experiment she turned slightly, heading a little more to the left. The image brightened in front of her, and Odin’s future grew darker. The patches of light dimmed and shrank, the golden-haired man who laughed as much as he cried began to fade away, and the black-haired one’s smile became a sneer of cruelty. Frigga turned back to the centre and watched as the original image strengthened again. It wasn’t too late to make a choice, but the time where she couldn’t turn back was fast approaching.

She glanced nervously to her right; darkness, nothingness, no future at all, a pathway that led to an early death with no clue as to how it would happen. Frigga bit her lip and stepped a little closer, hoping for a sign of something that would help her avoid that fate.

The darkness grew larger, more encompassing, Frigga got the distinct impression that it wasn’t just her own death she was looking at. She turned away quickly, heart racing.

A scream of rage echoed out of the darkness, a long, piercing, horrid sound that struck her to her core.

****

Frigga’s eyes snapped open and she lay there, frozen, until the light of the morning filtered in to disrupt her thoughts. The scream had been terrifying, like a monster from the shadows, one who brought only death.

But still, one fate out of three. Frigga could handle that, just stay on the other path. Easier said than done though, given she had no idea what would bring death on such an enormous scale.

She washed and dressed, trying to put her dream out of her mind. Why she had to be plagued by such things she had no idea, but plenty of people didn’t get to choose their circumstances in life, having confusingly prophetic dreams wasn’t the worst thing to happen to a person.

She arrived at the healer’s rooms just as Eir was walking out of the head healer’s office. Frigga shot her a questioning glance and received a quick shake of Eir’s head in reponse.

“She’s not mad at me,” Eir said. “She said the adjustment I made on the blood-clotting runes I was working on yesterday made them work ten percent faster. She’s proud of me!”

Frigga gave her a grin. “I knew you were talented,” she said.

Eir slipped into her seat and pulled a basket of stones closer to her. “I wanted so badly to make up for my mistake,” she said, “And I was working away and I just _saw_ it, you know when you see something and it just makes perfect sense? I knew it would work, and it did!”

Frigga smiled, Eir’s joy was contagious. “You’ll be a great healer yet,” she said.

****

Daianya and Tarah stood side by side among the other Valkyrie in the Great Hall. There was a slight gap around the cold spot, otherwise the whole room was packed with battle-hardened women. 

General Solveig stood beside King Bor up on the dais, her face was grim, and had been for fifty years now. Like all truly good Generals she considered war a failure of diplomacy and something to be ready for, but never wanted. Before her eyes she could see ever woman she’d ever had come up through the ranks since she’d taken up her position. She knew all their names, and she knew who was missing.

“For those of you unaware,” Bor boomed out across the hall, “Asgard has been blockaded. No ships have gotten through in months. Tomorrow, that blockade is coming down.”

The assembled Valkyrie watched him in silence. They didn’t tend to cheer the way the warriors did. They dealt with the dead too much to cheer an upcoming battle.

“You will be the force sent to the Dwarven supply station. You will need to prevent them from sending reinforcements once the space battle has begun,” Bor finished and stepped to the side.

General Solveig stepped forwards. “We have a copy of the plans to their base and its surrounds,” she said. An image of the plans appeared above them and the Valkyrie turned to look. “These are available for viewing at your terminals, memorise it. You will be in squads but we all know once a battle starts things get chaotic. If you find yourself close to the base and you can take down a support structure, I expect you to do so.”

She went over each step of the plan in a clear voice, leaving no room from misunderstandings. Daianya and Tarah’s squad was assigned to air support. 

“Tomorrow is such a brief window, the last of us to get back will barely be rested,” Daianya said.

“The Dwarfs will not have missed our exit from the Spartas cluster, they’ll catch on if we don’t move fast,” Tarah said.

“I know, but still, it carries a risk,” Daianya said as Bor stepped up again. 

“I will be joining a small battalion of warriors who will launch a space attack from Asgard,” he said, “Hela will be joining you on the ground at the supply base.”

Daianya pulled a face. Tarah saw her expression and reached out to take her hand. “She can’t fly, we’ll never even see her,” she said comfortingly as the briefing adjourned.

“She’s too violent for a battlefield,” Daianya said.

“So are berserkers,” Tarah said.

Daianya blushed. She’d gone berserker once, although it had been under extraordinary circumstances.

“I suppose we’ll just have to watch the carnage from the air,” Daianya said. “I was really hoping she’d join the King on the ships.”

****

The day passed by too quickly. The healer’s rooms stopped their rune-making and worked tirelessly instead to set up a makeshift triage and treatment area out in the barracks yards. The Pegasi were checked and cleared for battle. Armour was likewise checked and minor repairs made. The whole palace rang with the sound of hard work and preparations.

Tyr carried a large barrel of burn ointment down from the healer’s store to the yard. He set it down by a young woman who was reciting something over and over under her breath.

“What’s that you’re mumbling?” he asked.

She looked up at him and smiled nervously. “Spell of healing slashing wounds. I always mix up my suses and my fusus,” she said. “I’m Eir, I’m still quite new.”

Tyr gave her what he felt was a manly nod. “I’m Tyr, I’m General Hymir’s son, I’ve just been helping out moving these heavy barrels,” he said.

“Move it Tyr! You can flirt later!” Brunnhilde shouted as she came charging through with a basket filled with bandages.

“Nice to meet you Tyr,” Eir said as he glared after Brunnhilde with blushing cheeks.

“You too,” he said and awkwardly walked away.

**** 

Nal sat at the window overlooking the yard and watched the preparations with careful eyes. She’d tried to think of everything, but she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something she had missed.

“Looks like organised chaos, my second favourite kind,” Loki said, standing by her side.

She looked up and allowed just a fraction of her worry to show on her face. “I hope it will be enough,” she said.

“For the Valkyrie? Definitely. General Solveig would have told you if it wasn’t. She’s very opposed to losing her women if she can at all help it,” he said. “There will be wounded, there will be deaths, but both of those will be as few as we can make them.”

“Daianya’s been in a hundred battles by now, easily,” Nal said. “I never worried about her before now, but it’s right in front of me and I can’t pretend it isn’t.”

“I’m feeling a bit worried myself,” Loki said. “Not about Daianya, or me, but about Yggdrasil. Did you feel a sudden surge of dread a couple of nights ago? I did and it make me shudder. Something big is coming, and I don’t know what it is, _that’s_ what bothers me.”

“How comforting,” Nal said dryly.

“I just wondered if you felt it too,” Loki asked. 

Nal shook her head. “I can’t say that I did, but if it was the dead of night maybe I was just asleep,” she said.

“Maybe,” Loki said. “But the sooner this battle is over the better.”

****

Night fell and the Valkyrie turned in. They ate quietly, spoke softly, and went to bed early.

Tarah sat at a small table with Brunnhilde and their mother, Commander Herja. She had returned that day with the squadrons under her command, and for the first time in years all three of them were together.

“And how have you fared out there?” Herja asked Tarah. “How have you been with Princess Daianya?”

“We’re fine, we’re going to apply for a couple’s room once the war is over,” Tarah said.

Brunnhilde made a kissing noise with her lips.

“Stop that,” Herja said. “I’ve read the barrack-master’s report of your behaviour, any explanations you wish to offer?”

“I’m very entertaining,” Brunnhilde said with no trace of shame.

Herja sighed, but she was smiling. “That I agree with,” she said. “But tomorrow you must be more than that. You must be a Valkyrie, disciplined and strong.”

“I’m not riding into battle,” Brunnhilde said.

“No, you are helping the healers and the armourers. You are fetching what is needed as soon as it’s needed, sooner. You are helping keep us supplied and secure and as safe as we can be,” Herja said. “A Valkyrie is not a warrior. We have duties beyond swinging a sword, and I trust you to do them well.”

Brunnhilde nodded seriously. “I will, Mother, I promise,” she said.

“And you, Tarah, your job is to keep yourself safe. Stay high, ride fast, be ever vigilant, and have your sister’s backs as they have yours,” Herja said.

“I know, Mother,” Tarah said. “This is not my first battle.”

“No, but it is your first war,” Herja said, “And all I want, for _both_ of you, is to see you reach the other side of it alive and well.”

****

“Go to bed, Odin,” Bor said.

“I will shortly,” Odin replied. “I’m just checking some last minute details.”

“They’ve been checked. I checked them, Nal checked them, Vili sort of looked at them, but they’ve been checked,” Bor said. “Go to sleep, and when you wake up Asgard will be free.”

“I’m not quite ready yet,” Odin lied. “I will sleep like _that_ when it’s time.”

Bor gave him a shrewd look. “We won’t be failing, you know. Hela will tear through the supply base and the ships we have are enough to break the blockade provided no reinforcements get through. All will be well.”

“I felt something, a few nights ago, it woke me even in my sleep,” Odin said. “Yggdrasil was disturbed.”

Bor shook his head. “Nerves,” he said. “Yggdrasil is the great world tree, it can’t be disturbed.”

Odin sighed. “Something is coming, but I can’t see the path forward,” he said.

“After the blockade is down and you’ve finally slept you can go and visit the seers and ask them about your feeling,” Bor said, “If you want to.”

“The waters of Mimir are dangerous to access,” Odin said. 

“Then you had better be sure that this feeling is something,” Bor said, “Otherwise you will be risking yourself on nothing.”

Odin drummed his fingers on the table. “Maybe I was just tired, if no one else felt anything,” he said. “Surely if Yggdrasil was disturbed the other gods would have felt something too.”

“Well I certainly didn’t,” Bor said. “Now go to bed.”

“I’m not a child,” Odin said.

“Go to bed, my adult son,” Bor said, “Before I make it an order.”

Odin sighed and stood up. “Goodnight, Father, and good luck tomorrow,” he said.

Bor just laughed. “I don’t need luck,” he said, “I have Hela.”

****

Hela stood beneath the dome of the Great Hall and looked up, admiring the paintings of victory and violence that adorned it on her orders.

A noise made her look down, and she saw Anima walk into the room, on her way through to another part of the palace.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Hela said, getting her attention. “The glorious victories of Father and I, immortalised forever.”

Anima turned from her path and came to stand beside Hela, looking upward.

Hela sniffed the air and looked at Anima curiously. “You seem different,” she said.

“I lost someone close to me to death recently, you can probably tell,” Anima said. “Why did you choose to immortalise the enslavement of mortals? It was for a brief time and my mother made it stop very quickly, because it was .”

Hela shrugged. “You live in a palace they built,” she said. “Don’t get all high and mighty with me. If they didn’t want to be enslaved they should have fought back.”

“They didn’t have any magic,” Anima said. “They came to help with the war effort.”

“Magicless mortals are weak and mostly useless,” Hela said, “They weren’t wanted, and besides, I liked watching them work until they dropped dead.”

Anima’s eyes narrowed and the air around her began to crackle.

“But then Yrsa showed up, freshly pregnant and – ugh – reeking of life, and she almost threw the King out of a window, which was very funny. I know he’s the king, but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if she’d let him drop,” Hela continued, oblivious to Anima’s anger.

Anima bit back her first response, which was to offer to let Hela find out what it would have felt like for herself, and instead focused on the other part of Hela’s sentence. “You knew my mother?”

Hela shrugged. “Not well, I mean, she didn’t like me and I hated her, but she was not someone you could trifle with. Even Loki spoke to her with respect.” She turned to look down her nose at Anima. “Not like you, you’re not scary enough to respect,” she said bluntly.

Anima tilted her head and gave Hela a smile. “No one truly fears death, they’re just worried about what happens next,” she said and walked away.

Hela rolled her eyes and tried to act as though the barb hadn’t hit as hard as it did.

****

So our men have been placed on… _backup duty_?!” Lord Elbin exclaimed. “This is an insult to all true men everywhere. They should be leading the charge!”

“I tried to convince the King, but he was unmoved. He _likes_ the Valkyrie. He respects them as – ” Commander Lomax shuddered – “Equals.” 

Lord Elbin pulled a face of vague disgust. “The Valkyrie are barely women with the way they behave,” he said. “They ought to be cleared out and their barracks taken over by our men, our warriors, loyal and true!”

“Speaking of loyalty,” Commander Lomax said. “There are a number of true men who feel rather hostile to the whole concept of a ruling queen, and as such are prepared to take direct action to prevent this, even at the cost of their own lives. All we need is an opportunity, and right now all four princesses are on Asgard.”

Lord Elbin sighed. “The problem is the eldest. She can’t be killed, even if we take care of the others,” he said softly.

Commander Lomax shrugged. “We may not get this kind of opportunity again,” he said, “And losing three is still better than keeping them around. The eldest is unstable, everyone can see that. Once she is the only option Prince Odin will hasten a new marriage and a new child.”

“You speak sense but that woman, Frigga, she can’t be the one; she’s too independent. If we make a move then she must be removed as well,” Lord Elbin said. “We have women, loyal to the cause and who know their place, who we can place in Odin’s path once the way is clear. My sorcerers have been working on a powerful sleep spell. I believe it can be done and cleanly too. But we must wait until the battle is over, we cannot risk causing such chaos at such a delicate time.”

“Once Asgard is free, we shall make it freer,” Lomax said.

“Indeed,” Lord Elbin replied. “I shall draft a list of targets, people who are against us. We may not get such an opportunity again for a long time.”


	11. The Battle for Asgard

The morning brought with it a sense of unreal strangeness. Everything seemed slightly out of place as people woke, ate and began their day. Servants still brought breakfast, people still went about their business, but voices were hushed and people kept their eyes down. No one spoke more than necessary.

The Valkyrie pulled their armour on with brisk efficiency. The communications last night had confirmed that the ships were in position and ready to make the attack. 

Daianya and Tarah dressed in silence and made their way down to the stables. Their mounts were being made ready by some of the older, semi-retired Valkyrie. They accepted a mount each with a nod of thanks and led them out to the Bifrost yard to wait for the single to attack.

Nal stood at a balcony and watched as the Valkyrie assembled. There were over five thousand of them in the first wave, and the same in the second. Seeing them all standing together was an impressive sight.

Hela strode out near the front. Her spined helmet was in place and she walked like a woman going to meet a particularly favoured lover. 

A flash of green and yellow caught her eye and she saw Loki arrive bedecked in his own armour. He looked like he was going to a fancy dress party and she was certain, upon closer inspection, that he was wearing thigh-high boots over his chainmail.

Anima joined her on the balcony. “I’m scared,” she said.

Nal nodded. “A sensible emotion,” she said.

“Very,” said Odin from behind them, “No one should face a battle without a little bit of fear behind them.”

“I’m surprised you are still awake,” Nal said.

“I’ll sleep tonight, when the battle is done,” Odin said. He too wore armour, but his helmet was hanging from his hand.

“The King ordered you not to go,” Nal said, catching sight of what he was wearing. 

“He did, and I intend to obey,” Odin said, “But if things go badly, I want to be ready.”

Nal turned back to the sight of the assembled Valkyrie. “Father, if the Dwarfs get through that, you won’t be enough to save us,” she said.

Odin chuckled softly. “You are right, and yet here I am, ready anyway,” he said. “Because we do what we must, until we can’t.”

Nal concentrated and a sword of ice formed in her hand as quickly as a spring-loaded blade. “If you insist,” she said.

Anima shrugged. “If they get onto Asgard I’m going for the tesseract,” she said. “I don’t know where I’ll send them, but it won’t be close.”

Odin nodded. “I’m sure all will be well,” he said, “And tonight we will feast to Asgard’s victory.”

****

Eir thought she was going to throw up. The healer’s had set up their triage area outside in the yard just beyond the Bifrost yard. Right now it was clam and still, with copious amounts of supplies and rune-stones. But soon it would be chaotic and filled with the scent of blood. Soon she would have to prove herself, not as a rune-maker, but as a real healer.

“Just remember to stay calm,” Frigga said encouragingly. She was wearing a yellow band to indicate her status as a healer’s helper, and someone capable of fixing minor wounds. Eir’s blue band indicated that she was expected to handle severe cases, as per her training. 

“I know,” she said. “I’m just nervous. I hate being nervous. The spell words don’t stay in my head when I’m nervous.”

“Once it starts you won’t have time to be nervous,” said Inge. “Just concentrate on one patient at a time. Alruna and Hrund are in charge of triage, they will tell you who to help. You just heal them until they’re stable and then move on to the next one.”

Eir nodded, then swallowed hard.

“If you need to throw up, there’s a trough over there that the horses normally drink out of,” Inge said. 

Eir nodded and darted away, passing through the cleansing spell that kept the area inside sterilised from the outside. She gagged a few times but managed to keep her breakfast down.

“You’ll be fine,” Frigga said from over her shoulder.

“I have to be, the Valkyrie are relying on me,” Eir said. “But I wish they weren’t.”

****

Tyr was sulking. Not openly, he wasn’t stupid, but once again he was not to join the battle because he was deemed too young. He’d argued with Commander Lomax the night before, begging to be allowed in the backup forces with the other men, but the Commander had held firm. Instead he was loitering around the healer’s yard. He figured if they needed someone strong to carry something he could volunteer, show his worth and his willingness to work for the good of Asgard, although who exactly he was supposed to be impressing he didn’t know. The Valkyrie’s opinion didn’t matter to him, and the healers were mostly women as well. Maybe the King would be wounded and – but no, he was going to be on the ships so there was no chance of him seeing Tyr doing what he could to help out.

He was so lost in his musings that the sound of the Bifrost activating startled him. He quickly straightened and looked around hoping no one had noticed that he’d jumped. To his annoyance Brunnhilde was watching him from ten feet away. She grinned cheekily and waved to let him know that, yes, she’d seen.

Annoyed, Tyr turned his back on her and waited for his chance to do something worthwhile.

****

Daianya took to the air as the horn of battle was blown. Tarah was at her side as they entered the Bifrost and got carried away to the target world. And then it was below them, rocky terrain, sparse vegetation. The base itself was across the field and mostly underground, as preferred by the Dwarfs. She urged her mount to gain height as the ground troops flew low and fast across the distance.

Daianya could see the faint outline of Dwarven traps below her, pressure plates and tripwires that would slowly cripple an army but were useless against the mounted Valkyrie, who stayed a minimum of four feet above the ground.

An alarm was already sounding, no doubt activated as soon as the Bifrost light had been spotted. The base at the far end opened its giant doors and three dozen tanks began to roll quickly out, their weapons already turning toward the sky.

On the field below, hundreds of rocks suddenly turned over, revealing defensive cannons and other weapons. They began firing immediately, and the battle was on.

Daianya stayed high, dodging blasts and keeping close watch as she tried to see the areas identified as vulnerable at their briefing the day before. She spotted one of the power conduits and swung around, heading downwards. She pulled an axe from her belt as she flew, eyes on the target as she pulled back and let her weapon fly. There was a small explosion as the axe hit home. One small area of the defensive weapons went dark. It would be back soon, the Dwarfs always built plenty of redundancies, but for now that area was clear. A squadron of Valkyrie flew in to take advantage of the damage and fired their own weapons at the powerless cannons, breaking as many of them as they could before the rest came back online.

Daianya circled again, looking for another lucky break.

Down on the ground, Hela arrived onto the battlefield with a wild grin, Mjolnir in her hand. She wanted so badly to be pulled in towards the centre, but the Dwarfs appeared to have grown wise and no traps were activated at her presence. Instead she charged headlong towards the tanks.

Her feet hit a tripwire and a bomb exploded beneath her. She sailed upwards fifty feet into the air, rolling her eyes in annoyance as her feet disappeared over the horizon. By the time she hit the ground hard enough to crack a few bones the missing appendages were already reforming. She crawled angrily over the rocky ground, her eyes locked onto the closest tank. By the time she reached it, she was able to stand up and start hammering on the sides, determined to break in.

**** 

Far away inside the underground base, a Dwarf acting as a spotter caught sight of Hela.

“She’s here!” he shouted. “Hela, she’s here!”

“Send for the King!” called General Grer, “And begin the assault on the others. We must isolate Hela as much as possible, she cannot receive any back up, that will only make our King’s task more difficult!”

A Dwarf ran towards a large metal gate. Before he reached the threshold it activated, sending a Bifrost signal across the stars to Nidavellir.

“She’s there, at the base, you were right,” he said as soon as he tumbled out the other end. “The Asgardians attacked to break the blockade and they brought her to help.”

Eitri stood there in his armour, Stormbringer in his hands. He’d been waiting, battle-ready, ever since its creation for news of Hela’s whereabouts. The golden cuff that would trap her forever hung at his belt, his blood had already been smeared upon it, ready to tie her imprisonment to his life forevermore.

“Then let’s go,” he said.

The gate shut off and then reactivated, opening the path in the other direction. Eitri and his escort stepped through without another word.

****

The battlefield had become chaotic. The Valkyrie still worked in their squadrons as best they could, but the random fire and the arrival of the Dwarven troops had done much to turn each unit into individuals who fought whatever was in front of them. Daianya had lost sight of Tarah and could only hope that she was doing alright as she swooped low and swing her sword, decapitating a Dwarf as she leaned hard to one side to avoid his fellow soldier’s attempt to shoot her off her mount.

She heard a horn of distress and whirled about. A Valkyrie was down and in trouble. She followed the sound to the side where she found a wounded Valkyrie beside a downed Pegasus. It had fallen on her as it had died, breaking her leg. She had already placed her rune-stones on the leg, immobilising it. Daianya swooped in low and caught her waiting arms, hauling her up onto the saddle and taking off into the air.

The reverse Bifrost signal had been activated, and two bright rainbow beams were visible in the sky. Daianya flew to the far one, passing through the spells of protection cast by the sorceress Valkyrie and into the light.

A rush of movement surrounded her and she flew out just beyond the healer’s yard. She landed and two Valkyrie helped unload her wounded passenger. “Take a fresh mount,” was all they said before they carried the wounded Valkyrie away to be healed.

Daianya dismounted and handed off her Pegasus to a waiting stable-hand. Fresh mounts were already waiting, and she jumped up easily.

The ride back was over quickly and she rejoined the battle without a pause.

The Dwarfs had taken the field properly now and were swarming over the ground. Daianya could see where the traps were by where the Dwarfs weren’t. They stepped around seemingly empty patches of ground without any obvious reason. 

She was not the only one who had seen and made the same connection. General Solveig was shouting orders through her communication device to shoot the empty patches of ground and set off as many of the traps from the air as they could. Daianya pulled her energy weapon and began firing. She tried to hit patches that were close to Dwarven soldiers, in case the shockwave hindered them.

A hit from another Valkyrie landed and a huge explosion resulted, sending large rocks flying into the air. Daianya followed their path and felt her heart freeze. 

Tarah had been directly above, high enough that she should have been safe, but this explosion was bigger than the others and the rocks were flying directly at her. Tarah pulled to the side, avoiding them as they shot past, but her movement allowed a Dwarven soldier on the ground to have a clear shot at her.

His energy blast hit her mount and they fell together, tumbling out of the sky with nothing to catch them.

Daianya urged her mount forwards but she was too far away. The Pegasus hit the ground first, and Tarah a second later a few metres away.

And then a tank ran over her leg.

Tarah screamed on pain as the mechanical monster dug through her flesh and bone, churning up everything beneath it without a pause. Daianya was flying in fast, trying to dodge blasts while riding too fast to properly do so. The rest of the tank was fifteen second away from rolling straight over the rest of Tarah’s body as she lay trapped on the ground.

Daianya felt the urge to rage grow inside of her. She’d gone berserker once before and knew it was always a possibility.

NO, she thought sternly to herself. NOT NOW.

Someone who went berserker was invisible and unnaturally strong, even for an Aesir, until the effect wore off, but they were also out of control, lost in total rage. Tarah needed her to be focussed, and she slammed down the feeling as hard as she could.

The tank was getting closer and Daianya was too far away. No one else had seen what was happening. Tarah was going to be crushed by the tank, twisted and churned up under its great spikes.

Daianya reached for Yggdrasil and sent her power out to the tank. It passed through the metal as though it didn’t exist and reached for the souls of the Dwarfs inside. 

She grabbed them and pulled as hard as she could. Their souls were _yanked_ out of their bodies and hung high in the air. Daianya pulled again and the threads that bound them to their bodies snapped. She let go and they spiralled away to the Dwarven afterlife.

The tank’s movement slowed, but it did not stop rolling entirely. Tarah was cringing in pain and fear, trying and failing to pull the remains of her leg free of the rolling mechanism.

Daianya landed hard and let her Pegasus fly free. She covered the last few meters at a sprints and slid to her knees at Tarah’s side.

There was already a lot of blood on the ground, and Tarah was looking ashy under her brown skin.

“I can’t get loose,” she gasped, “It’s pulled me in.”

They both looked up at the rest of the tank as it rolled slowly closer. Tarah turned back to look at Daianya as she stood and drew her sword. She looked Tarah directly in the eye. Tarah steeled herself and nodded. 

Daianya drew back her arm and swung downwards, slicing through Tarah’s leg just below the knee. Tarah bit back a scream as Daianya grabbed the back of her armour and dragged her clear of the tank as it finally reached her position. Daianya grabbed the rune-stones out of her bag and found the one to stop blood loss. She pressed it to the skin above the wound and watched as it activated, binding the end of the leg in magic and stopping the blood from flowing freely. 

Daianya grabbed the horn from her belt and blew the distress call as hard as she could, using her other arm to pull Tarah upright, while also scanning for nearby threats. Tarah wasn’t looking good. She had already lost a lot of blood before Daianya even got there, and now her head was resting against Daianya’s shoulder and her breathing was turning rapid.

“You’ll be alright,” Daianya said. “You’ll be alright, where _are_ they?”

She blew again and then sighed in relief as she saw Norah flying through the weapons fire, heading their way. Norah was almost as good a flyer as Tarah, and she ducked and weaved with an expression of hard concentration on her face that contrasted with her usual cheerful manner.

Daianya saw the moment Norah recognised them as her eyes widened, but she didn’t let up on her concentration for a second. Daianya braced her legs and got a firm grip on Tarah.

“I love you,” she said and hurled Tarah into the air.

Tarah flew upwards as far as Daianya’s Aesir strength could throw her. Norah caught her at the height of the throw and pulled her across the saddle, before wheeling about and flying away back the way she’d came.

Daianya was left on the battlefield, alone and on foot. She drew her other sword and headed towards the Dwarven soldiers marching in the other direction. She tried to put Tarah out of her mind but she couldn’t.

 _Nal? Tarah’s wounded and coming in, tell me when she’s alright,_ she thought.

 _Will do,_ Nal replied. 

Daianya wished Anima was helping the healers, but she was busy keeping the protective spell over the Bifrost safe from the Asgardian end. Any stray weapons fire or missiles that got through the sorceresses on the battle side would be turned into flower petals upon arrival, which was a necessary precaution, but still left Tarah in the hands of lesser mages.

Daianya reached a group of soldiers and launched herself into the battle, reminding herself that the healers trained for years to be the best in the realm. Tarah would be just fine.

****

Eir was carefully closing a burn wound on a Valkyrie when she heard a shout of alarm. New wounded were coming through. She finished up by applying a rune-stone for pain and gave the woman a nod before running off. So far she’d been allocated the less serious wounds, which was fine by her. She could handle those. 

The one coming in now was not less serious. She was very serious, horribly serious, so serious that the Valkyrie that brought her hadn’t handed her over to the waiting triage team but had carried her across the yard herself.

“Help, she needs help!” the young woman called.

To Eir’s horror she realised that everyone else was busy.

The Valkyrie placed her comrade on one of the tables and looked at Eir expectantly.

Eir glanced around, but even the triage team were busy stabilising people. No one was there to help.

“Come on!” shouted the Valkyrie.

Eir looked down at the woman before her. She had lost the bottom half of her leg and was clearly suffering from blood loss. The scanners attached to the bed were showing signs of a weakening heart from the lack of pressure, and there was a lot of impact damage, broken bones and and ruptured organs. The woman was dying.

Eir held out her hands and started saying the words of the strongest regeneration spell. It was already going to be close, and that spell was the only one with a chance to save her.

She fumbled it. Her tongue tripped over itself and she said the wrong thing. She took a quick breath and started again, fighting rising panic.

“Tarah?”

The voice was young, too young. Eir opened her eyes and saw a little Valkyrie trainee, Brunnhilde, standing there with a basket of bandages in her arms and a horrified look on her face.

“Tarah?” she said again, her voice cracking in fear.

Eir started again and slipped and messed it up. This woman, Tarah, was going to die because Eir couldn’t get her mouth to work as fast as her brain.

“Brunnhilde, go and fetch some more bandages,” said the Valkyrie who’d brought Tarah in. She should have already re-joined the battle but wasn’t moving. Eir had the horrible feeling that they were friends.

“Tarah!” Brunnhilde yelled instead, “Tarah wake up!”

At the far side of the yard a gate opened and Princess Nal walked through, her red eyes scanning the beds one by one. She saw Tarah lying there and her eyes narrowed.

Eir tried again but now she couldn’t even remember the words. Panic was making her mind go blank. She shut her eyes tightly, fighting tears. 

‘Okay, alright! I heard your call! I studied hard! I learnt all about healing! I hear you!’ She thought desperately. ‘And I’m answering! I’m answering! HELP ME!’

Something rose up inside of her, something that had always felt present but just out of reach. She could smell her mother’s herbal room from home, the different plants that she’d helped mix together from the time she could stand. It was comforting, and kind, and _calm_.

Eir opened her eyes and the woman on the bed was no longer a person. She was nerves, and cells, and blood that was moving too slowly around veins that were clear in Eir vision. She was as Eir had always imagined healing spells to look like back before she’d learnt any.

Not enough blood, damage on a thousand small levels. Eir never even saw the other Valkyrie jump back in shock, never knew her eyes were glowing from end to end with bright white light. She only saw the complex biological machine before her, and she knew what had to be done to fix it. She reached out her hand.

White light flew from Eir to Tarah, making her whole body glow. The power transformed into new blood, into whole cells. Her bones healed, her damaged organs repaired. The cuts and bruises on her skin faded away. Eir looked up as she finished her work and saw the other bodies in the yard. Without thinking she reached out to all of them, and a pulse of white light burst out of her.

Every wounded Valkyrie in the yard healed within seconds.

Brunnhilde had dropped her basket and had climbed on top of her sister. She grabbed Tarah’s shoulders and shook them hard.

“Wake up!” she yelled, ignoring Eir as the healer collapsed at the side of the bed.

Tarah’s eyes opened and she regarded her sister. “You’re sitting on me,” she said.

Brunnhilde’s eyes filled with tears and she flung herself down, gripping Tarah in a tight hug as she began to sob in relief.

“I’m alright,” Tarah said. “I’m here, I’m fine.”

“You’ve lost half your leg!” Brunnhilde exclaimed between sobs.

“Okay, so I’m mostly fine,” Tarah said.

Eir opened her eyes to find Inge kneeling beside her, one hand resting on her shoulder. Inge was smiling at her, which was a rare sight.

“It’s been a long time since we had a Goddess of Healing,” Inge said. “I told you I saw potential in you.”

Eir tried to rise but her head was spinning. 

“Take her to rest,” ordered Nal. “A new god coming into their power nearly always overdoes it the first time.”

“God?” Eir said as what they were saying finally filtered in.

“Yes, my dear, Yggdrasil has blessed you with its call,” Inge said as Eir was lifted up and carried to a nearby bed.

“Oh, so that’s what that was,” Eir said before fainting from exhaustion.

****

Hela was having fun, a lot of fun, Dwarfs always felt so _good_ when they died. In fact, any race from the nine realms felt better than those that weren’t. The Titans had been alright but the rush from killing a Dark Elf or a Dwarf was something else.

She carved her way forwards, always on the lookout for the next target. The base was supposed to be taken, but Hela didn’t care. The Valkyrie could take care of that, Hela would stay out here and feed her hunger until there weren’t any Dwarfs left.

They were fleeing from her, all running in the same direction. Hela ran after them. She wasn’t stupid, she could tell they were leading her away from the main battlefield, but she didn’t care. They’d tried to trap her before but they had always failed. Hela couldn’t die, she couldn’t even feel pain the way others seemed to. She was unstoppable.

She ran over the hill after the retreating Dwarfs and stopped at the sight before her. Eitri, the King himself, had taken to battle. She could see his face behind his helmet’s protective curves, and he stood tall and proud with a shiny axe in his hands.

Hela grinned and created one of her own.

She ran at him, hurling her axe before her as she did so.

Eitri swiped upwards and her axe was sliced in two. Hela was running too fast to stop and crashed into him a second later with her other weapon. Eitri swung again and broke it. The blade of his axe was so sharp the metal of Hela’s was severed without catching or bending. She jumped back and summoned another one.

Eitri broke that too. He didn’t move particularly fast, but then he didn’t have to. His weapon alone was enough. But Hela was not about to give in. She grinned in defiance and summons a wave of death. Throwing it out at him and watching in delight as he didn’t even try to dodge.

Eitri swung and the wave broke into two on either side of him.

Hela’s grin began to fade.

Now Eitri moved. He was taller than her and while his build made him look like he’d be slow on his feet, the reality was very different. He charged towards her with his axe held up. Hela summoned another blade, as powerful as she could make it, and swung to meet him.

His axe cut through her blade like a hot knife through butter, and carried on until it hit her hand, which it severed from her body.

Now Hela knew pain. She screamed at the sensation as every single creature in the nine realms, from the Dwarfs who stood watching to the smallest caterpillar on Midgard, jerked as though wounded.

Eitri halted for a second, but then came back swinging again. Hela dodged it and stumbled backwards. He swung again, and again she dodged. For the first time in her life she was not willing to let the blade hit her, not even by accident. Her hand was healing, but it was slower than it should have been and it still stung painfully.

There must be poison on the blade, Hela thought as she tried to back away. It made sense, poison could hurt her, and even incapacitate her for a while. She didn’t want to be incapacitated while alone and surrounded by Dwarfs. She backed up the hill, trying to get back to the main part of the battle.

Eitri didn’t let her. He angled himself to cut her off and swung again. Hela stumbled backwards and tripped, falling to the ground. 

For the first time in her life, she knew what fear felt like.

****

Daianya cut down another soldier and looked around her. Her helmet had been knocked off and she was starting to tire. She was near the edge of battle, if she headed over the rise in the distance she could probably take a moment to rest, maybe even call in a lift back to Asgard to pick up another mount.

She headed toward the rise, keeping an eye out for attackers, but the main battle was behind her now. She clambered up the side and jolted to a shocked stop at the top.

Before her were half a dozen Dwarfs, all standing around in a semi-circle watching as Eitri himself stood over _Hela_ as she lay on the ground. He had an axe raised above his head and brought it swinging down. Hela threw up a wave of dark energy and the axe cut it in two. The blade then slammed into Hela’s chest.

Daianya gasped in pain and fell to her knees. So did the Dwarfs. So did Eitri. All over the battlefield people stopped fighting and fell in pain.

****

On Asgard, Odin dropped to his knees. The threat, the one he’d felt, it was active. He struggled to rise. He had to get to the battlefield. He had to stop it.

Loki coughed and crawled to his feet. Something on the far side of the battlefield was in desperate need of destroying. It was like a beacon in his mind. Whatever it was, it had to go.

Nal looked thoughtfully at the Bifrost light. She wasn’t the only one. Every Valkyrie, old and young, had turned to face it. Something on the other side was a threat and it needed to be dealt with.

Tyr was already running for the light. He didn’t even have a sword in his hand, he just knew he had to go through and stop whatever was on the other side.

****

Eitri pushed himself to his feet, fighting the urge to break his own creation. Any normal god could be killed, but Stormbringer was capable of killing Yggdrasil itself. Hela’s connection to the World Tree was causing a massive amount of feedback. 

He looked up and saw his own men fighting the urge to rush him, but even as he did he realised something. He didn’t need to trap Hela. Stormbringer could kill her, truly kill her, with no return. It could sever her connection to Yggdrasil forever. He didn’t need the cuff, he could do it right here and now. 

But the pain, that would echo down Yggdrasil’s branches. What damage would it do?

“Take me,” he whispered in prayer, “Whatever the effect, inflict it on me, if you can. I give myself to end her terror.”

Yggdrasil wasn’t known for talking to its creations, but he felt a sense of agreement in his heart. He only hoped it wasn’t imagined as he raised the axe again.

Daianya raised her sword, her eyes locked on the axe. It had to be destroyed, she knew that with a certainly that was beyond even her normally questioning nature. She went to brace her feet and found that they couldn’t move. She looked down and saw vines had grown from the ground and wrapped themselves around her ankles. She assumed a Dwarven trap and tried to swing her arm to cut herself loose.

Her arm didn’t move. Something was holding her back. On the ground below her, the other Dwarfs seemed to come out of their own spell, one of them looked up, saw her on the ridge and began to run towards her.

****

On Asgard, Odin stopped running for the Bifrost. A moment ago he’d been certain that he had to reach the battlefield, but now the urge had withdrawn. All around him those who had been about to follow the same call stopped and looked at one another in confusion.

Loki had reached the centre of the field when the urge faded. Now he felt as though he needed to leave that area alone completely.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he said to the air and tried to keep going, but his feet felt as though they were pushing through thick mud.

****

Eitri’s axe was over his head. Hela lay on the ground, trying to inch back away from him, fear and pain on her face in equal measure. Her eyes widened in horror as the axe began its swing downwards.

_Tarah's alright,_ Nal's thought broke through into Daianya's mind. Something in her chest unwound and in the moment she stopped focussing on Eitri the thing holding her started to loosen its hold.

Daianya looked back at Eitri and raised her sword. It took a lot of effort, more than it should, but despite how she felt about Hela, they were on the same side of this battle, she couldn’t stand and do nothing.

She got the distinct impression something was disappointed in her as she threw her sword like a spear towards Eitri.

A hammer slammed into the back of her head. The only reason it didn’t kill her instantly was that the blow was cushioned by her thick hair. Even so her scull cracked from the blow and she was unconscious before she hit the ground.

Eitri was swinging downwards when the sword struck under his arm. Even without the extra power properly braced feet would have given her, Daianya still had Aesir strength and it was enough to send her blade underneath his arm and into his side. Eitri faltered and Hela managed to roll and dodge the swing. She summoned a wave and death and threw it at him as she scrambled painfully and awkwardly away.

Eitri survived only through the actions of General Grer, who slammed into him and knocked them both underneath the wave as it passed. Hela crawled up the hill as fast as she could, desperate only to get away.

General Grer reached for Stormbringer, but Eitri pulled it away. “No,” he gasped, “You don’t have the strength, it’ll kill you.”

“She’s getting away,” General Grer said.

“We must go,” Eitri said. “I will face her again… once I recover… we know now what it can do.”

General Grer lifted him up and helped him leave the battlefield. “Call a retreat!” he ordered as they stumbled to the Bifrost gate.

“My King, Princess Daianya!”

They turned. The Dwarf who had run to the ridge jogged down carrying Daianya in his arms. Her distinctive red hair had blood in it.

“Bring her, heal her,” Eitri said at once. 

They left the base and let the Bifrost carry them to Nidavellir.


	12. Aftermath

Nal was ordering various palace servants and officials about with ruthless efficiency when Anima materialised by her side.

“Daianya – ”

“I know,” Nal said, “I felt it. Is she alright?”

“I healed her as fast as I could, but then I lost her,” Anima said. “I think they’ve taken her through the Bifrost.”

“Chances are high she’s been taken to Nidavellir,” Nal said. “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting the Bifrost from this end? They’re still fighting out there.” 

Anima frowned. “You’re acting very cold,” she said.

“Daianya is not dead, is very strong, and very valuable,” Nal said, “Unlike almost everyone else here, who needs our protection right now.” She looked up into Anima’s pout and her face softened. “They won’t let her die,” Nal said. “If you started the healing then the worst of it will already be gone, they’ll take care of the rest, and as soon as she wakes up she can tell you where she is and you can go and get her. There isn’t a Dwarf spell strong enough to keep you out, you know that.” 

Anima slumped at her words. “I know,” she said, “I’ll go back now.”

Nal reached out and laid a hand on Anima’s shoulder. “Daianya would want you to help protect the other Valkyrie, she’d tell you that herself if she wasn’t unconscious.”

Anima gave Nal a little half-smile of acceptance and disappeared back to her station. Nal turned back to her supervising, trying to push her own worries to the back of her mind.

 _Nice try, but I live back here,_ Anima thought in her head.

****

Hela was having a moment. She’d had a lot of moments in her life, but this one was different. She’d been attacked, rather successfully, and she had the strangest feeling that Eitri’s weapon had been capable of more than just blocking or deflecting her powers. It might actually be able to kill her.

And not the regular, go-to-Valhalla- death, final death, _permanent_ death, something Hela had never thought about before.

Instead of thinking about it, she carved her way back through the retreating Dwarfs with as much venom as she could muster, in some cases literally. Her knife blades became poisoned, and sharper than she’d ever made them before, fear brought out a survival instinct she didn’t know she had.

She was almost back to the main lines when she stumbled upon Loki, who was sitting on top of one of the Dwarven tanks, which he had taken over and was guiding using a couple of ropes tied to the controls below. 

“Hela, darling, good to see you,” he shouted, “Having fun?”

She threw a knife at him. It was a reflex action more than a deliberate strike, although her long-standing determination to kill him one day was as strong as ever.

He dodged it by falling backwards into the opening of the tank. There was the sound of a thud as he hit the metal floor of the cabin.

“Ow,” his voice echoed back out. “No change to your feelings then?” 

Hela staggered onward. She couldn’t shake the image of Eitri standing above her, his weapon high in the sky, about to swing down and – 

Hela shook her head hard, trying to make the image go away. But it was insidious and kept creeping back. She ran harder for the Bifrost, wanting to return to Asgard. The battle was effectively over, the Dwarfs were in full retreat, there was no reason for her to stay other than to mop up the stragglers, but for the first time ever she didn’t want to. She wanted to go home.

She didn’t feel safe out here.

Hela reached the Bifrost and ran through, finally breathing out fully as it picked her up and carried her away back to Asgard.

She reappeared at a run and suddenly ducked frantically.

“Sorry Hela,” Anima called as the magic sailed over Hela’s head, “I thought you were a hostile being.”

Hela scowled. “I _am_ , if I want to be,” she snarled, stomping past where Anima stood.

“I’ll turn you into a shower of rose petals then, shall I?” Anima called after her.

Hela ignored her and headed indoors, not wanted to see anyone at all until she’d found a way to make her memories stop invading her thoughts every bloody second.

She needed to kill Eitri, that much was certain. Loki too, seeing as they were both finally in the same place once again, and then she’d get a hold of that weapon and destroy it. Whatever it was it couldn’t be allowed to exist, of that Hela was certain.

****

The hours that followed the Dwarven retreat were filled with activity. The Valkyrie hunted through the base and secured it, then retrieved the dead and laid them out respectfully for their families to claim them for funeral rights. The wounded had to be seen to, the minor injuries had waited until the healers were available and so the healings went on through the night. Supplies were fetched and carried, Pegasi healed, rubbed down, fed and stabled. The work continued until the next day without pause.

Up in the King’s office, a meeting was being held.

“I’ll bloody kill him,” Bor snapped.

“I thought that was the plan?” Loki commented.

“Daianya is a valuable prisoner, she won’t be harmed,” Odin said, although who he was reassuring wasn’t fully clear.

“As soon as she wakes up, Anima will go and get her,” Nal said. “Going into battle is not without its risks, Daianya knew that, just as she knows we will go after her.”

“You need to sleep,” Bor said to Odin, as though he had suddenly noticed him.

“I’ve got a little time yet,” Odin said.

“Seconds? Or a whole minute?” Loki asked.

Odin ignored him. “Once Daianya is awake and Anima retrieves her, then I will sleep, but right now I think I can be granted a father’s grace to remain alert,” he said to Bor.

Bor rolled his eyes. “Fine, but you know that eventually it won’t be a choice anymore.”

“No awakening yet?” Odin asked Anima, who shook her head.

“She’s like a cloud in our heads,” Anima said, “Like when one of us is asleep, she’s still there, just not accessible.”

“The other half of the Valkyrie are bringing their ships in soon,” General Solveig said. “We need to organise the supplies in the barracks to accommodate the doubling of people.”

“Nal will take care of it,” Bor said, “You’ve probably already started,” he added directly to Nal, who paused in the action of handing him a prepared file. 

“As you wish, your Majesty,” Nal said, putting it back down in front of her again.

“General Hymir has contacted me,” Bor said. “Message arrived during the battle but it’s clear. He’s taken an injury in the latest skirmish, nothing too bad but he’s bringing in one of the flanks for rest and retraining while he recovers, they’ll be arriving in two days.”

“A whole flank?” Nal said. “That’s ten thousand men!”

“I know, and with the whole Valkyrie here as well our army is depleted in the field,” Bor said. “We need to get them back out there on patrol at a minimum as soon as possible or our advantage won here today will be for nothing.”

Nal made a few frantic notes on the paper in front of her. 

“Can he wait until the end of the week?” General Solveig asked. “The first Valkyrie will have left by then and you can divert some food across.”

“He says no, and I trust his judgement,” Bor said. “I think he’s bringing back the newest recruits, I know he wasn’t happy with how many he lost at that last battle, he says they’re too reckless.”

Nal rolled her eyes, “Fine I’ll figure it out,” she said.

“Are those the ones who are suspected of being members of the True Men’s Alliance?” Loki asked. “I’ve noticed a lot of literature in the camps, and a lot of talk about how men take to battle easily and don’t really need much training because their instincts will kick in and save them. They get wounded and die a lot.”

Bor shrugged. “Maybe,” he said.

“Not all ten thousand I hope,” Nal said in disgust.

“About a third of that, realistically,” Loki said, “Lord Elbin has been busy.” 

“But if they’re fighting alongside others in a flank then they need to train together as well,” General Solveig added.

“Bloody True Men,” Bor muttered, “I’ll show them a true man any day.”

“I believe they try to model themselves on your fine example,” Loki said, “Of course, not being able to go invulnerable in battle means that they suffer where you do not.”

Bor grunted. “Real men know their limits,” he said. “Anything else we need to discuss?”

“I don’t think so, the base is ours, the Dwarf ships are in full retreat and we can open the trading lanes again. We just have to wait for Daianya to wake up,” Nal said.

“Good, keep me informed,” Bor said, “I’m going to wash the blood off my beard.”

****

Out on the battlefield, the members of the army under Commander Lomax carefully walked across the ground, looking for spoils, equipment and other useful items. The Valkyrie were also picking things up as they went, but were slowed down every time they found the dead. 

Commander Lomax sighed. He had wanted to be a part of the battle, but his leg was still not fully healed. Clean up duty felt demeaning by comparison, and he could only hope for some good spoils to make up for it.

“Commander,” a voice called out, “Gold.”

Lomax made his way over the rise the call had come from. On the other side he saw a depression of a crater, made millennia earlier, and in the centre stood one of his and Lord Elbin’s men.

“Gold is plentiful enough,” he said, “But still worth a little something to the right buyer, what is it? A helmet?”

“Looks like a wrist brace or a cuff,” said the man, Lomax struggled to remember his name, although he knew the man was loyal to a frightening degree.

“Let me see it,” Lomax said.

The man handed over the cuff and Lomax examined it carefully. A small device on his belt began to chime.

Lomax pulled it off his belt and ran it over the cuff. “This thing is magical in nature, extremely so,” he said. “I will take possession of it, and give you the equivalent in gold for your find.”

“Will it go to the cause?” the man asked.

“I intend to give it to Lord Elbin’s sorcerers to examine, yes,” Lomax confirmed.

“Then I gift it freely,” the man said.

Lomax smiled at him as he stowed the cuff away. “Your gift will be noted,” he said, “Lord Elbin will be pleased by your loyalty.”

**** 

Tyr had his wish. He had indeed been pressed into using his strength to help in the healer’s yard, but the only person who seemed to notice was Brunnhilde, who, now that her sister was going to be alright, had returned to her usual annoying ways. The pretty healer close to his age had turned out to be a _goddess_ which no one, apparently, had seen coming, and everyone else wasn’t really worth his time impressing. 

There was something unsettling about the healers which Tyr couldn’t identify. They moved with brisk efficiency, and they shouted orders, commands and advice from one another with ease and confidence.

That’s what it was, the confidence. Lord Elbin said that women didn’t really know what they wanted and it was a man’s job to guide them to the right path, but Tyr couldn’t imagine telling even one of these healers what to do, they’d laugh at him, or worse, ignore him.

Every last one of them knew exactly who she was and what she was doing. None of them needed any form of guidance as far as Tyr could see.

Maybe Lord Elbin was talking about outside of work. He did talk a lot about women staying at home and having and raising children, but healing required magic, and most of the naturally talented sorcerers were women, so clearly _some_ women had to work, as long as they did so in roles meant for them. And of course _in those roles_ they wouldn’t need any guidance, because they belonged there.

Not completely satisfied with his own logic, but willing to accept it for now, Tyr lifted yet another box filled with healing stones and carried back to where the healers were working.

****

Away on Nidavellir, Eitri winced as his wound was stitched back together with the most powerful healing spells the Dwarfs had. He would still be stiff for a few days, but then he would be ready to try again. His fight against Hela wasn’t over yet.

“She’s not a very good fighter,” he said to General Grer, “Not as all, actually. She’s got deadly aim if you can’t dodge or block, but her defensive fighting is almost nothing.”

“She’s never had to worry about that before,” General Grer said. “You almost had her, if not for her sister.”

“How is Princess Daianya?”

“Better than we thought, her head wound looked nasty but when we got her into the scanner the bones were half-healed already and her brain was just fine no concussion,” General Grer said.

Eitri nodded. “I’ve heard rumours that her sister can heal over long distances using magic,” he said. “I’ve also heard that they can track one another.”

“All our defences are on high alert,” General Grer said. “No inbound magic can get through out shielding.”

“And yet I remain concerned,” Eitri said, “Because our magic is exactly that, magic, and Anima is known for making magic do whatever she wants.”

“We could lock her in our strongest prison, the number of traps around it should slow Anima down,” General Grer said.

“What we really need is a way to break their connection,” Eitri said, “I have a few ideas, stay on high alert until I can craft what I need, but if Anima does come, don’t lose too many men. I need my people more than I need a Princess.”

Eitri rose from the healer bed and limped his way back to his workroom. He pulled out some drawings from his earlier works and looked over the calculations. 

“Time stone,” he said to himself, finding the right page upon which he’d written his calculations for Stormbreaker, the mould for the weapon with the power to withstand all six Infinity Stones. “Less than a second should do it.”


	13. Revelations

Eir held her hand over one of the wounded and smiled as the power flowed through her. It felt so _easy_. This was what she’d always imagined as a child when she’d dreamed of being a healer. All the struggles of before felt so insignificant now, although she knew in her heart that they weren’t over exactly, rune stone still had to be made, spells still had to be memorised, but not by her, she was free of all of that.

Still, healing work wasn’t all glamour and magic, some of it was, well, work. She gave the now healed patient a nod and headed into the next room, only to pause awkwardly at the door.

Tarah was sitting up with her mother, Commander Herja of the Valkyrie, and her little sister by her side. She had a serious look on her face, and the flat spot beneath the sheets where the lower half of her left leg should have been made Eir uncomfortable.

“I’ve come to, uh, do a check-up,” she said by way of announcing herself.

Tarah looked up at her and smiled, which made a surge of guilt go through Eir’s body. Tarah had almost died because Eir hadn’t been able to speak a single healing spell without tripping over her own tongue, but no one else seemed to know that. The other Valkyrie hadn’t realised anything was wrong, little Brunnhilde had known it was close but had no idea why. 

Tarah’s mother stood up and held out her hands. Eir took them awkwardly as she spoke.

“Thank you for saving my daughter, our life is always touched by danger, but knowing we have healers like you to support us means everything,” she said.

Eir wanted to faint. She settled for an uneasy smile and a mumbled “Just doing what I must, as do we all.”

“Yes, but my family still owes you a great debt,” Herja said, “If you ever need anything, you may call on any one of us.”

Eir wanted to sink into the floor, but she managed instead to get a smile on her face as she checked the readings on Tarah’s bed. “You’re healthy,” she said. 

“The head of artificial limbs said they can make me one,” Tarah said, “It won’t be as good as Dwarven-made, but I should be able to walk again without difficulty.”

“No more riding though,” Brunnhilde said glumly.

“Not true,” Tarah said, “Although not into battle, I won’t have the agility anymore.”

Her voice was tinged with sadness that she was trying to conceal.

“There is more to being a Valkyrie than riding into battle,” Herja said.

Tarah nodded, pressing her lips together in a determined line. “I know, and I accepted the consequences of battle when I became one.”

Eir wished desperately that her talents extended to regrowing whole limbs, but if the first ever rising of her power hadn’t regrown what was missing then it was unlikely to be one of her skills.

“I’ll leave you to rest,” she said, slipping out feeling worse than ever.

She almost walked into Nal and Anima on the other side of the door. She ducked around them with a squeak of surprise and a frantic ducking of her head. “Your Graces,” she said.

Nal gave her a nod and kept walking, Anima gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Good to see you well, Eir,” she said and walked into the room behind her sister.

Eir walked away, wondering if the guilt of her almost failure would follow her for the rest of her life.

****

Nal and Anima walked over to Tarah’s bed. Brunnhilde and Herja both gave bows of respect, Herja’s quite a bit more respectful than Brunnhilde’s.

“We came to tell you that there’s been no change to Daianya’s unconscious state,” Nal said. “It’s almost time to sleep, and we didn’t want you wondering if you’d been left out of any updates.”

“Thank you,” Tarah said, a little awkwardly. She and Daianya had become a couple at the same time the war had begun, most of their time since had been spent away from Asgard, and as a result Tarah was not close to either of Daianya’s sisters.

“I’m going to sleep first, and then Nal will wake me when she’s ready to sleep, so that one of us is always awake in case Daianya regains consciousness,” Anima said. 

“We suspect that she’s being kept sedated, Anima healed her enough that she should be awake by now otherwise,” Nal said as Tarah nodded.

“She’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Tarah said. “I wish she could have come back through the Bifrost with me though. Leaving her alone on the battlefield, and on the ground, was risky.”

“You were dying,” Brunnhilde said, “Emergency evacuation protocols state that the injured party takes precedence in favour of able-bodies Valkyrie.” She looked up at her mother’s expression. “See, I did listen to my teachers,” she added.

“How are you?” Nal asked.

“Healthier than I’ve ever been, other than the leg,” Tarah said. “Turns out getting healed by a goddess is even better than magic.”

Anima shrugged and pulled a face that indicated that she might disagree, but didn’t say anything out loud.

“Have they come to fit you for an artificial limb?” Nal asked.

Tarah nodded. “They’ll be making it soon,” she said.

“Will you re-join the ranks?” Anima asked.

Tarah shook her head. “I can’t, it doesn’t have the agility.”

Anima raised an eyebrow. “I want to take a look at it, who’s in charge of limbs?”

“Bodil, she has studied the magic for centuries,” Tarah said.

“I’ll take a look,” Anima promised.

Nal gave Tarah a nod. “We’ll keep you informed until Daianya’s home again,” she said.

****

Laufey was cleaning out the entrails of a Kakor beast when he became aware of a presence behind him. He extracted his upper half out of the beast’s belly and turned around to face his visitor.

“It reeks in here,” General Thrym said.

“That’s the Kakor, which is why I’m the one cleaning it out,” Laufey said. “Can I help you, General?”

General Thrym was one of the few in Grundroth’s court who actually treated Laufey with something approaching respect. He disagreed with Grundroth’s ongoing vendetta, and eflt that Laufey didn’t deserve such hatred for something which had, ultimately, not been under his control.

“I wanted to tell you that the army is taking on new recruits in a week,” Thrym said. “I know you didn’t plan on joining, but I wanted to know what you thought before asking the King if you might sign up.”

“He won’t allow it,” Laufey said at once. “He would never allow me to be anything other than his personal slave to degrade and humiliate. You know that General, he’s not going to allow it.”

“It’s been sixty five years since Princess Nal outsmarted him and refused his proposal,” General Thrym said, “And fifty since I last tried to speak for you. That woman, Amora, she has softened his stance against other matters considerably, perhaps he will do so for you as well.”

“If you are successful I will join willingly,” Laufey said. “But I do not believe that you will succeed. The King will hate me until his dying breath, even if I go before him, taking over by these blasted Kakor guts.”

General Thrym wrinkled his nose. “It’s a terrible smell, isn’t it?”

“Toxic if I perforate the lower digestive tract while taking it out, why do you think I’m alone and set up away from the palace?” Laufey said. “But on the other hand, its cleaned flesh makes a delicacy that cannot be surpassed, so if I live maybe the King’s attitude will be softened towards me when you speak to him.”

“I will keep trying to speak for you, Laufey,” General Thrym said. “You were a great asset to his Majesty once, on a real path to a place in government.”

“I prefer not to think about that these days,” Laufey said. “I need to start the removal now, I’m going to ask you to leave for your own sake, General.”

Thrym gave him a nod and departed, leaving Laufey alone with his disgusting task. 

Laufey crawled back inside the belly of the beast and tried to put the conversation with Thrym out of his mind. For one thing, Grundroth would never allow Laufey to ever rise the slightest bit again, but more importantly, if he didn’t keep his mind on his task then his miserable life would end right here and now, and Laufey had no intention of allowing that to happen, not when he had so many plans.

He hoped Thrym would be able to be kept out of the way, Laufey was nothing if not fair to those who were fair to him.

****

Hela was running through the corridors of the palace. Something was chasing her wherever she went. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it coming for her and there was no escape.

She pushed open the doors to the outside and ran out into the Death Garden, which didn’t make sense because there was no direct way to reach it from inside the palace. It didn’t matter, the thing was still coming and she had to get away.

She ran through the pathways, the plants held no fear for her and never did, although there was something about them this time that made her uneasy.

She burst out through the gate and ran across the grass, it was getting harder to run. Her foot caught a rock and she fell, hitting the ground hard. She turned to face the thing chasing her, gasping in fear.

Eitri stood over her, the axe high above him, his eyes filled not with hatred or anger, but cold determination.

“No one truly fears death, they’re just worried about what happens next,” said a voice, high with youth.

Hela turned her head and saw her sisters. They looked about ten years old and were sitting on a swing each, gently rocking in the breeze as they watched her lying on the grass.

“You go to Valhalla,” said Daianya, her hair was a halo around her head.

“You go back to the earth,” said Anima, her blue eyes bright and innocent.

“Others do, but _you_ go into the dark,” Nal said, her serious expression at odds with her childish face and freckled nose.

Hela turned back to look at Eitri just in time to see the axe swing down.

****

Hela jerked awake with a cry of fear and threw out a wave of death in front of her. It hit the far wall and the plaster withered and aged until it crumbled. The stone behind it cracked and weathered in front of her eyes. Hela stayed still for a moment, waiting to see if she’d managed to destroy the structural integrity of her bedroom.

The wall didn’t fall, although repairs would most definitely have to be made. Hela wiped the sweat from her forehead and went to fetch herself a drink of water. Was this how people felt all the time? Hounded by fear whenever they saw her? She’d always enjoyed fear, until she’d actually felt it.

She wanted it to stop.

She saw her face in her bathroom mirror and her lip curled up in disgust at how vulnerable she looked. She was the Goddess of Death. She could not – _would not_ – fear what she was. That was ridiculous.

Hela knew that one day even she would die… probably, and when that happened her soul would go to Valhalla, and then she’d walk out again, find another body, take it over, and start again. She’d been ‘killed’ enough times to know that it wasn’t possible to stop her. Her soul did not seem to be bound to the spiritual realm the way others’ were. She could go on forever. Age might take her life one day, but there was no rule that could force her to stay dead.

Except for whatever Eitri had made. That axe radiated malice. A lot of Dwarven weapons had some form of sentience, and that one _hated_ her. 

Maybe it was picking up on Eitri’s own feelings? Hela had killed his brother, Sindri, after all, and she wasn’t stupid enough to think Eitri would have simply forgotten. 

She had to destroy that axe, but all of her weapons had proven useless. She needed to use something else.

Her gaze travelled across until she saw Mjolnir sitting quietly in the corner where she’d left it after the battle. She really only used it to be drawn into the Dwarven traps so as to turn their plans back on themselves, but Mjolnir was a weapon it its own right. Perhaps it was time that she used it.

**** 

“She’s coming out of it”

“Activate the phase shifter”

Daianya opened her eyes slowly. Her head hurt, although not as much as she was expecting. The ceiling above her was grey and industrial in design. It didn’t take a genius to work out where she was.

_Anima? Nal?_ she thought.

They were there, but they felt like they were sleeping. Strange, Daianya would have assumed that one of them would stay awake to listen out for her.

She sat up, and found herself looking at the King of the Dwarfs himself.

Eitri was sitting on the other side of an energy barrier, with Daianya firmly on the inside part of the arrangement. He was watching her with shrewd and cautious eyes.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. His voice echoed slightly, which Daianya put down to the barrier between them.

She raised a hand to her hair; there was a lot of dried blood in it. “I’ve been better, but then I get the distinct impression that I’ve been worse as well,” she said.

“You were knocked unconscious in battle,” Eitri confirmed. “One of my men broke your skull.”

“Yes I think I remember that part,” Daianya said, “Or the part just before it anyway.” 

“Despite what may seem like the opposite, I have no desire to harm you,” Eitri said.

“Good to know,” Daianya said.

_Anima! Nal! Will one of you wake up!_ she thought as hard as she could. Not that it had ever worked, when they were sleeping making the connection was like shouting through water. In fact the only time it had broken through in Daianya’s memory had been when Hela had temporarily killed Nal.

“I understand that you share a connection with your sisters?” Eitri said, “At least, that what the rumours say. To be honest I half expected them to be here already.”

Daianya shrugged. “What’s a few hours?” she said.

“I did modify the cell you are in to shift you in time by one third of a second,” Eitri said. “Most magical connections do not automatically travel through time, so I hope that will be enough to cut you off from them, at least for now.”

Daianya suppressed a flash of annoyance at Eitri’s cleverness. She knew for a fact that being out of time-sync did indeed cut them off from each other, which made the feeling she had in the back of her mind make more sense. She could still sense them both because they still existed one third of a second earlier or later than her, but the connection was incomplete, which is why they felt like they were sleeping.

“Clever,” she admitted. “Do you really think it will make that much of a difference? They will still find me, there’s more than one way to do that.”

“Oh I know,” Eitri said. “Loki, for one, I’ve never met a better tracker, and I’m not even trying to hide you really, you are on Nidavellir, the first place they will look.”

“Why so careless? Especially after taking extra precautions with the time shifting,” Daianya asked.

“Because I wanted to talk to you,” Eitri said. “You stopped me from killing Hela, which I understand, she is your sister.”

Daianya shrugged. “She’s Father’s daughter,” she corrected, “But I don’t think we’ve ever been sisters.”

“She’s dangerous, to us all,” Eitri said. “She’s violent, and unstable, and one day she will terrorise the nine realms.”

“Yes,” Daianya said, waiting for him to get to his point. 

Eitri blinked in surprise. “You know this?”

“Everyone knows this, except perhaps Father, and even he is coming around slowly,” Daianya said. “But Hela can’t be killed.”

“Yes she can,” Eitri said. “The weapon I held, it can kill her, forever. I just need a chance to use it.”

“How?” Daianya asked, intrigued.

Eitri turned his head away. “It doesn’t matter, it is not something that should be known,” he said. “But I need to draw her back out into battle, and once I have, then you will be free to go.”

“Just like that?” Daianya asked.

Eitri turned to look back at her. “The death of Hela will be my death as well. I hope that after I am gone Asgard will spare my people and make peace. It is me they want, after all, is it not? Although I’ll be damned if I know why.”

Daianya frowned. “You helped the Titan Thanos to attack Vanaheim,” she said.

Eitri looked at her in shock. “I did not!” he said, sounding insulted.

“You made the gauntlet he used to wield the Mind Stone, it was a perfect fit, clearly made for him,” Daianya said. “He killed thousands within minutes.”

Eitri froze in place. “Please excuse me,” he said, his voice sounding a mixture of concerned and fearful. 

He turned away and practically ran out of her sight. Daianya sat back down and reached up a hand to where she normally wore her pendant. It was missing, which she fully expected. The Dwarfs would have seen the magic on it immediately.

It appeared she was stuck where she was for the immediate future. She just hoped that Tarah was alright, Nal’s last thought to her had been to say Tarah had survived her injuries, but was she facing a slow recovery? Would she forgive Daianya for slicing off her leg?

****

Eitri half ran, half hobbled down the corridors in a panic. His vault was his destination, and despite his still-healing side he couldn’t slow down, not with the growing sense of dread in his chest. 

He reached the doorway and activated the locks with a shaking hand. The door seemed to take forever to open, and when it finally did he stumbled through hastily.

The gauntlet sat on its plinth where he had placed it some eighty years earlier. Eitri hobbled over to it, questions swirling in his mind. Had someone found a way to copy it? But how, when he kept the original so carefully guarded? 

He picked it up in his hand and his expression changed to one of horror. He knew by the weight alone that this was not the gauntlet he had made. He turned it over and examined the spells as tears grew in his eyes. 

Mirage spells, mimic spells, the gauntlet in his hand was a replica. It looked the same from the outside but the inner workings, the part that would actually allow the user to wield the stones, was completely missing.

Eitri knew the caster of the spells as well as he knew his own magic.

“Brokkr,” he whispered, staring down at the thing in his hand with tears growing in his eyes, “Brother, what did you do?”


	14. Eitri's Plan

Amora sat with an amused look on her face as Grundroth and Thrym argued with one another.

“It has been decades,” Thrym said, “His crime was losing her in the dark, anyone could have done it, she’s tiny!”

“His crime was returning without her after he lost her,” Grundroth growled.

“He would have gone back in had you let him,” Thrym said, “But you ordered him seized the second he emerged alone. How was he supposed to know she’d run in further instead of back towards the safety of the surface?”

Grundroth huffed under his breath, “Thrym, you have served me loyally for decades, and King Hailstrum before me, I know that you are a good man, but Laufey is the exact opposite of everything you are. He is sly, and deceitful, and only out for his own gain.”

“You were willing to make him your personal assistant, once,” Thrym said.

“I was foolish to do so. I saw through him the moment he left Princes Nal alone. He was supposed to escort her into the dark until she got scared and then bring her back safely. How hard is that to accomplish?!”

“But she didn’t get scared,” Thrym said. “She went all the way to the end of the Cave.”

“Who’s Nal?” Amora asked, dropping her question into the middle of the conversation with perfectly timed precision.

“My heir,” Grundroth said, sounding grumpy. “She was supposed to be my wife, but she got out of it on a technicality.”

Amora suppressed a smile as Thrym gave a sort of half shrug. “Nothing was ever made official,” he said.

“She agreed to marry me if she couldn’t conquer the Cave of Kings,” Grundroth said. 

“But then she conquered it,” Thrym added to Amora, who nodded as seriously as she could.

“So there is a woman out there, who is… tiny, and fearless, and – I assume – beautiful enough for you to desire… and she is to be Jotunheim’s next ruler?” Amora said.

“One day, yes,” Grundroth said. “Unless someone else conquers the Cave of Kings before my demise, then she’ll have to fight for it.”

“Fight?” Amora said, leaning forward with interest.

“All heirs have an equal claim to the throne,” Thrym said, “Sometimes one heir will stand aside, but they don’t have to. If there’s another heir then I think Nal won’t even bother coming here. She doesn’t want the throne, she just wanted to get out of marrying you,” he added to Grundroth.

Grundroth scowled deeply.

“She sounds like a fool,” Amora said, giving Grundroth a seductive smile. 

“She’s quite clever, actually,” Grundroth said reluctantly, “Although if Laufey hadn’t ruined everything she never would have made it that far into the Cave.”

“I don’t see why not, if he tried to stop her she’d have every right to call off your agreement,” Thrym said. 

“Where is she? If she’d not on Jotunheim?” Amora asked.

“Asgard,” Grundroth and Thrym said in unison.

“Asgard?” Amora repeated, “Why Asgard?”

“Because she’s Odin’s daughter, and King Bor’s granddaughter,” Grundroth said.

Amora’s expression briefly turned ugly but she hid it quickly. “A royal? Born into luxury? And she’s the heir to the only throne in the nine realms that does not require royal blood to obtain?”

“Yes,” Grundroth confirmed.

“Of course she is,” Amora said. “That’s how it goes with royalty, they always find a way to put themselves on top of every hierarchy.”

“She conquered the Cave, her royal blood didn’t help her with that,” Thrym said.

“So you would fetch her, one day? A woman who didn’t grow up here, knows nothing of your culture and your people? You would willingly put her on the throne?” Amora asked, incredulous.

“It is our way,” Thrym said in a dangerous voice. “She earned it, she will have it, unless someone else takes it first.”

“You know, I’d really prefer to not talk about my death,” Grundroth said.

“I’m sorry, my love, I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just surprised to hear such news. A foreign princess simply _given_ a throne. It’s shocking to me,” Amora said.

“She earned it,” Thrym repeated, sounding annoyed.

“Enough,” Grundroth said. “I do not wish to be reminded of Nal, she is my heir by law and tradition, but she is also nothing to me, not anymore.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Amora said, sliding one hand across until it reached his leg, “Because I want to be everything to you.”

Grundroth turned and gave her a grin. “You are, my darling, you are,” he said.

Thrym turned away, already forgotten, and sighed in disappointment as he left. So much for helping Laufey better his circumstances. It seemed that the poor man would have to wait centuries until Grundroth’s death to be free, assuming he made it that long.

****

Anima was tired. She’d woken early in order to listen for Daianya but it appeared that her sister was still sleeping. Maybe they were keeping her sedated? Normally an Aesir’s healing abilities would have caused her to wake by now.

To keep herself busy she examined the spells used in artificial limbs in the hopes of helping Tarah as much as possible. They were very good as limb substitutes went. The user would be able to walk and run without difficulty, climb a ladder, jump up and down, they could even ride a horse under everyday circumstances, but the sideways movements required to manoeuvre through obstacles being shot at them at terrifying speed was definitely lacking.

Anima rubbed her eyes and scanned the spells again. There had to be a way to refine them, but the problem for her was a lack of time. The war was still out there, the healing runes had to be replenished, and Daianya had to be rescued at some point. Just not enough hours left in each day.

Thoughts of Senan crossed her mind, of eating potatoes and chocolate in the forest clearing, of making love lit only by the dying fire, of talking for hours in person and via communication device. She missed him so badly it made her chest hurt.

“Focus,” she whispered to herself. “Focus on the present, the past will always be there and the future is always coming. For now, Tarah needs you to focus, Daianya needs you to focus, just keep going.”

If only she wasn’t so tired.

Maybe a variation on the regeneration spell she used to keep her body youthful? Perhaps she could bypass the need for a limb at all if she could just regrow Tarah’s leg?

An ambitious idea, but one that would require even more research.

Anima drummed her fingers on her desk. Which pathway should she try? Tried and true, or new and wild?

Regeneration was more her area of expertise, although if it didn’t work then she was just wasting time she didn’t have to spare.

 _Nal? Help me out. I can’t decide what to do,_ she thought.

 _What is it?_ Nal answered.

Anima explained her problem as quickly as she could.

 _A real leg will always be better than a substitute. If you think there’s a chance, then I’d recommend that you take it,_ Nal thought.

Anima nodded. _What if I fail?_ She asked.

 _Then you know you tried your best, and Tarah will have to learn to live with a perfectly functional replacement that only stops her doing a small number of very skilled activities,_ Nal thought. 

Anima sighed. _I suppose so,_ she thought.

Regeneration it was.

****

Daianya was lying down watching the patterns on the ceiling drift by gently. The cell wasn’t exactly luxury, but the Dwarfs at least recognised that total isolation without mental stimulation was a cruel act to subject a person to, and so an image of the stars at night had been projected above her head. Every so often there was a shooting star.

The sound of heavy footsteps caught her attention and she sat up. Eitri had returned. At once she saw that his face was drawn and his eyes sorrowful. He held a gauntlet in his hand.

Daianya opened her mouth, fully intent on accusing him of lying when he’d claimed no knowledge before, but then her brain caught up with her eyes. Eitri was holding a right-handed gauntlet, a perfect copy of the one Thanos had used in his attack. Why would he have made _two_ right handed gauntlets? Thanos didn’t have two right hands.

“This was in my personal vault,” Eitri said, sitting down on the bench outside her cell. “I didn’t make it, I made another.”

“I know, your makers mark isn’t exactly easy to copy,” Daianya said.

“No, it requires ten spells, three of which I wrote myself, and a drop of my own blood,” Eitri said. “The one I made… was commissioned by an unknown client, eighty years ago. I made it to their specifications, and travelled to deliver it personally, as I wanted to see who I was handing over such power to.”

Daianya sat and listened in silence. Eitri looked as though he was close to tears.

“I saw the Titan from a distance, and I turned away and left. He received nothing from me, and I took no payment. I locked the gauntlet away in my vault and forbid its sale. Only two people knew that it was there, myself… and my brother Brokkr.”

Daianya looked down at the gauntlet in his hand. “Why do I get the feeling that your brother made that one?” she said.

Eitri shut his eyes tightly as his tears finally spilled over. “Brokkr was so angry at the death of Sindri. I wanted revenge on Hela, but only Hela, he wanted revenge on Asgard itself, for harbouring her, for not allowing her to be punished for the death of Sindri. I had no idea he had taken the gauntlet. I had no idea he had given it to the Titan. The Titan race is our enemy, and he chose to join them and attack our own. I cannot forgive him for that.”

“He must be brought to face trial on Vanaheim,” Daianya said. “If he is then maybe we can end this war.”

“He’s dead,” Eitri said. “His bones were only recently found and brought back to me. I have ordered some men to return to the site where they first found him and look for evidence of the Titan, but after so many years I doubt we will find much. I am convinced the Titan killed him once the gauntlet was handed over. I am sorry, for his actions, I truly mourn for the people of Vanaheim who suffered as a result.”

Daianya grimaced. “My grandfather will not accept bones,” she said.

Eitri nodded. “I understand, but my people should not be punished for the actions of one of us. This war is a fools war, started by a being that attacked us once and is now long gone. I imagine that if he knew how we were tearing each other apart he would laugh.”

“All this, because Hela couldn’t control herself,” Daianya said.

“That does bring me to the other matter I wish to discuss with you,” Eitri said. “I have heard, among other rumours, that you possess the ability to see the sincerity in a man’s soul. You can tell if he means to deceive you, is that true?”

Daianya nodded. “You can’t hide your soul, it knows all your secrets, all your guilt, and all your deceptions,” she said.

Eitri nodded. “Can you still see mine through the time shift?” he asked.

Daianya squinted. “I can, although it’s delayed,” she said.

Eitri nodded and held out his hand. After a moment, Stormbringer flew into the room and into his grasp. Daianya jerked back in spite of herself. The weapon radiated malice.

“I made this to subdue Hela,” Eitri said. “It can counteract her powers, all powers from Yggdrasil. It’s a god killer.”

“I can tell,” Daianya said through gritted teeth. She wouldn’t take her eyes off it.

“When I designed it, I meant only to subdue her so that I could place an enchanted cuff on body which would trap her in a seidr pocket. The spell was tied to my own life, so that as long as I lived she would remain trapped, and we would all remain free of her,” Eitri said. “And you know how long-lived us Dwarfs are. It would have taken a lot of my strength, but it was a price I was willing to pay to stop her, and – I must confess – punish her for the death of Sindri.”

“And I interfered,” Daianya said. 

“Halfway through the fight with Hela I realised that Stormbringer had the power to end her completely. Her soul torn in two, the cells of her body disintegrated into nothingness. She could never come back,” Eitri said, “I changed my plans, and intended simply to end her, at the cost of my own life.”

“Killing her would kill you?” Daianya said.

Eitri nodded. “This weapon has the power to kill Yggdrasil. Each strike to one of its children is a blow to all of us, I felt it the first time I hit her. I know you did too. But I made a promise to Yggdrasil that I would accept the full power of the killing blow. Her life would end as would mine. That is what you stopped with your well timed throw.”

“She’s Asgardian, we’re at war,” Daianya said, although she sounded uneasy.

“I intend to try again,” Eitri said.

“You can’t ask me to help you,” Daianya said.

“I know,” Eitri said. “You have your duties, Hela is one of yours. I understand that even asking you to stand aside is too much, whatever your personal feelings, and I suspect that you do have personal feelings on the matter.”

“Hela is cancer,” Daianya said.

Eitri nodded thoughtfully. “Born of Yggdrasil, unstoppable, growing in power and unstable enough to perhaps even turn on her own creator one day, yes I’d say she is. But I am not telling you my plans because I believe you will help me, nor am I gloating, for this is hardly something to gloat about. I am telling you because I intend to try again, I intend to succeed, and once I do I shall be dead. I need someone strong enough to take this weapon and destroy it after I am gone.”

“Me?” Daianya asked.

“I know you can see I am sincere,” Eitri said, “And yes, you. I still remember the day Sindri died. You tried so hard to help him. Since then you have only gained a reputation for steadiness, loyalty, level-headedness. You will be a great queen of Asgard one day. I trust you to do what your grandfather most certainly will not. We both know he likes powerful weapons, he collects them, when he’s not using them. And perhaps after I am gone the King of Vanaheim will be satisfied and willing to make peace with my successor. I hope too that you will be willing to assist in facilitating this process.”

Daianya rose from her seat and came to stand directly before him. His soul was shining with honesty. Eitri, King of the Dwarfs, the Great Craftsman, intended to sacrifice himself to end the war, and take the most dangerous threat to all the nine realms along with him.

“I will destroy it,” she vowed. “I will take it far away from Yggdrasil’s realms and place it into the heart of a blue star, and I shall stay until it has burnt away into ashes and dust.”

Eitri nodded gratefully. “I will release you,” he said, “And I shall send you home, as a… peace offering. I do not expect King Bor to accept, and the next time Hela takes to the battlefield, I will kill her.”

“If I see you – ” Daianya said.

“I understand,” Eitri said, “As do all my men, who will try to hold you back until it is done, but not, I promise you, at the cost of your skull.”

“Very considerate,” Daianya said.

****

Commander Lomax walked into the back room of the Standing Proud after the evenings meeting ended and waited for Lord Elbin to join him. There were many men who crowded him after each presentation. They didn’t have much to contribute, just praise and sad stories about their sad little lives. 

Lomax found most of those left behind on Asgard to be rather pathetic. A true man was a warrior, he was strong and capable and clever. Lomax himself had risen through the ranks of the army on his own merits, and he abhorred the way other whined about not getting what they deserved.

But men like that were still useful, in their own way, and Lord Elbin was a master of keeping the masses happy.

At last Lord Elbin appeared, looking as calm and unruffled as ever. Commander Lomax envied the way Lord Elbin always looked so unflappable, but as per the True Men’s creed, envy was a personal issue that Commander Lomax must work to overcome, which he intended to do as soon as he had time.

“The battle was a success,” Lord Elbin said once the door was shut.

“The Dwarfs are in full retreat and there were minimal casualties,” Commander Lomax reported. “Our men were placed on clean up duty.”

“Yes, I’ve just spent several minutes hearing about it,” Lord Elbin said. “I’m sure had our men taken the field things would have been even better. For example, I doubt a man such as yourself would have gotten himself captured.”

“Who was captured?” Commander Lomax asked, frowning in confusion.

“According to my sources at the palace, Princess Daianya,” Lord Elbin said. “Our King is not known for negotiating, so I suppose she had better get used to being a guest of the Dwarfs.”

“That does cause issues with our plans,” Commander Lomax said. 

“True, but we can still proceed against the other two. Losing the ice-bitch and the mortal will at least give us some breathing room,” Lord Elbin said. “They both have far too much power in this realm, and they’re not even Asgardian.”

“We’ll need to be extra careful though,” Commander Lomax said, “Once the two of them are gone Prince Odin will investigate thoroughly, he will not be kind to anyone he catches, and he is good enough at magic to read the truth right out of a man’s head, or so they say.”

“He will find culprits,” Lord Elbin said, “Agents of Eitri’s, I shall make sure of it, and in the middle of a war who is going to question such a thing?”

Commander Lomax reached into his pocket. “I will assist in any way I can, of course,” he said, “But I have another matter to bring to your attention. A number of weapons and other items were recovered by our men from the battlefield. Some are large and awaiting your examination in the store room, but this little thing was picked up at the edges of the actions. It is blazing with magic, perhaps it is valuable?”

Lord Elbin looked at the golden cuff with interest. “I will have the sorcerers examine it,” he said. “Powerful devices are nearly always an asset, if we can figure out what it does. Thank you, Commander.”


	15. Decisions

The Bifrost activated and bathed the courtyard in light. When it faded the first of the ten thousand returning men stood in formation with General Hymir at the front.

“Clear out to the barracks, as fast as you can, we’ve got another nine thousand who need to come through as quickly as possible,” he shouted above their heads. 

The men turned and headed for the barracks in formation. General Hymir watched them go with steady eyes. 

The next few arrivals were the same, but at approximately the halfway mark things started to get less orderly.

General Hymir shouted the same order to each group of arrivals, but his face turned grim as the warriors became less disciplined.

“You can tell which ones are in it under a delusion, can’t you?” General Solveig said from behind him.

He turned and gave her a nod of respect. “The True Men, there’s more of them than I thought and they’re messing up my battle plans. I’d much rather do without them entirely but I’ll settle for extra training,” he said. “I heard the battle was a success, you are to be congratulated.”

“We cleared the blockade, lost just over a hundred Valkyrie, killed over three hundred Dwarfs. Not bad for a battlefield of thirty thousand,” she said.

“I envy your numbers,” General Hymir said openly. “Of course both the Valkyrie and the Dwarfs prefer a strategic approach.”

“So do the first and second flank,” General Solveig said respectfully. “It’s just this one that needs a little extra work.”

“More than a little,” General Hymir said darkly, lifting his left arm up slightly so that she could see the bandage around it. “I got this shielding a man, no better than a boy really, from dying of his own stupidity. Even with the rune-stones it’s not healing as fast as it should. I think the blast had a touch of magic in it.”

“Maybe our new Goddess of Healing can take a look,” General Solveig said.

“A new goddess?” General Hymir replied.

“Called Yggdrasil to her right in the middle of treating the wounded, and a good thing too, I almost lost Herja’s oldest, and a damn fine Valkyrie in her own right.”

“Tarah? I’ve seen her in training, a fantastic flyer,” General Hymir said.

“Not anymore, she lost the lower half of her left leg,” General Solveig said.

General Hymir winced in sympathy. “Shame, how’s she coping?”

“Happy to be alive, afraid of the future, doesn’t want to admit it,” General Solveig said. “It’s always the same when a Valkyrie in her prime loses her abilities. She’ll make an excellent instructor for the beginners and intermediates… that is if she chooses to stay in the ranks.”

Their walk had taken them to the door of General Hymir’s house. “Thank you for the update, I look forward to seeing your report,” General Hymir said. 

“I will see you at the feast tonight,” General Solveig said and left him to settle back in.

The house was well maintained, which he was pleased to see. Tyr was a disciplined young man, but still, well, young. General Hymir would not have been at all surprised had the disaster area known as Tyr’s bedroom had not crept out to the living areas of the house.

There was a noise from the kitchen and Tyr’s head appeared around the corner.

“Father!” he exclaimed and threw himself forwards.

General Hymir wrapped his son in a one-armed hug and squeezed him tightly. “You’re taller again,” he said. “I haven’t been gone that long, surely?”

Tyr grinned. “Only three years,” he said, “You came home after the battle for the Ceris Moons, for a week.”

General Hymir’s face softened slightly. “Not enough time,” he said. “Soon you’ll be a man out living a warrior’s life, I hate wasting the time we have now.”

Tyr shook his head. “You’re doing vital work for the realm, I’m proud of you, Father, And I’m fine, really, I train, I see my friends… how long are you here for?”

“Long enough to get healed and ensure the training regime these men need has been properly put into place,” General Hymir said, “A month maybe?”

“What’s wrong with the men?” Tyr asked.

“Too undisciplined, too eager to charge in without looking, reckless,” General Hymir said. “About a third of them signed up for glory but don’t want to do the hard work it entails. The other two thirds were ready to rebel if I didn’t do something.”

Tyr nodded seriously. “I’m sure Commander Lomax can sort them out,” he said. “He’s still healing from his leg injury.”

General Hymir nodded. “He almost lost it, and I don’t think I’ll ever not be impressed by the healers and the miracles they seem to do.”

“I helped them during the blockade battle,” Tyr said. “Just fetching and carrying, but I did my part.”

“I never doubted that you would,” General Hymir said with a smile.

****

Daianya fastened the clasp on her pendant and nodded to Eitri, who deactivated the phase-shifting device he’d placed on her cell.

 _Don’t come and get me, I’m coming home,_ She thought immediately.

 _You are? What’s been going on? You were asleep for ages and now the second you wake up you’re coming home?_ Nal thought in her head.

 _I haven’t been asleep, Eitri found a way to fudge our connection so you felt asleep to me and me to you. I’ll explain more once I’m back on Asgard but right now I need you to go to the Bifrost and wait for me. I’ll be coming in from Midgard,_ Daianya thought as Eitri escorted her to the Bifrost gate.

“I wish you well,” he said when they reached it. His whole demeanour radiated sorrow.

“I wish you luck,” Daianya said. 

He set the controls for Midgard. The Asgardian Bifrost gate had been set to reject any incoming travellers from Nidavellir and its surrounding systems.

The last image Daianya had of Eitri was of a man who looked a lot smaller than ten foot tall, shrunken by the weight of his grief, before she was picked up and carried through space and deposited onto the surface of Midgard.

Someone screamed. Daianya turned and looked at the two women in surprise, but they were already fleeing as fast as they could. Oh well, she had more important things to do than comfort mortals.

She knelt and wrote the runes for travel back to Asgard on the ground, concentrating on leaving the extra codes and symbols that marked her as a friendly arrival. No doubt Nal would ensure she would get through no matter what, but her training had been drilled into her over many months and she didn’t want to disappoint General Solveig by disregarding it.

The Bifrost activated and Daianya let herself be carried away for the second time in a few minutes.

She reappeared at the Bifrost Gate, confronted by a small group of alert warriors, who lowered their weapons as soon as they could see who it was. Nal and Anima were both standing by the doorway, looking relieved.

“Tell me how he did it,” Anima said at once, knowing Daianya knew exactly what ‘it’ was.

“He shifted me out of time by a third of a second,” she said. “I could feel you both but I couldn’t make a connection, you felt as though you were both asleep.

“Fascinating,” Anima said, “Did you happen to see any of the runes he used?”

“No, they were all on the outside of the cell,” Daianya said, “Whereas I was firmly on the inside.”

“Why did he let you go?” Nal asked her.

“Politics,” Daianya said. “He wants peace.”

“He won’t get it, not as long as the King’s name is Bor,” Nal said as they began walking back down along the Bifrost bridge. “Tarah is still in the healer’s care, but she should be fitted with her new leg soon.”

“I’ll see her straight away,” Daianya said.

“I thought you’d say that,” Nal said, “Which is why I think Anima should take you by magic right now. The King knows you were coming back and he’s already demanded that I bring you straight to him for questioning.”

Daianya reached out a hand which met Anima’s halfway. “Oops,” she said, “I guess I slipped away from you before you could deliver the message,” she said and the two of them vanished.

Nal continued on her leisurely walk back down the bridge, admiring the stars all around her and listening to the thunder of the water as it fell below her.

“You know, I’ve always wondered why no one ever thought to put up safety rails on this thing,” said a voice from behind her.

Nal turned and saw Loki standing there. “How long have you been following me?” she asked.

“About half a second, I teleported in,” he admitted. “I hadn’t spoken to you since the end of the battle.”

“I’ve been busy,” she said.

“We all have, but it appears that the two of us have a few minutes of time right now, so may I walk with you?” he asked.

“If you like,” she said.

“Eitri just let her go, did he? No demands, no requests?” Loki asked.

“Eitri wants peace,” Nal said.

“No brainwashing?” he asked.

“I don’t believe so, she doesn’t feel any different on the inside,” Nal said.

“But she was cut off from you both,” he pressed.

“How would you go about determining if she was?” Nal asked.

“Firstly, I’m delighted that you have not dismissed the idea entirely out of hand,” he said. “I was a bit worried that you would.”

“It’s a sensible idea, she was out of contact, she has direct access to a lot of key people, but I don’t think Eitri is the type,” Nal said.

“Not even for peace? I know he’s always been unhappy about Hela’s lack of punishment for the death of his brother. If I had to guess, I’d say all he wants is to kill her.”

“Can’t be done,” Nal said, “At least not for long.”

“But what about Bor? He won’t allow peace under any circumstances until Eitri is dead. I was thinking, what if Bor died first?”

“You think Daianya has been sent back to kill the king?” Nal asked. 

“You don’t think it’s possible?”

“Many things are possible but still very unlikely,” Nal said. “If Daianya kills the King, Father will know instantly that she was under some kind of spell, because he knows her loyalty to Asgard. He will assume Eitri did it, because she was his captive and he let her go without a trade of any kind, and then he will avenge King Bor by unleashing Hela on Nidavellir. If Eitri truly wants peace then he won’t assassinate King Bor, because he will never get it, and he’s clever enough to know that.”

Loki nodded thoughtfully. “A reasonable assumption, although if he’s so clever then why did he send her back without a trade? Even a small one would net him a general or a commander.”

“I intend to find out soon,” Nal said, “Daianya will not withhold valuable information from us. She must have some idea why Eitri let her go so readily.”

“You three don’t keep secrets from one another, do you?” Loki asked.

Nal paused. “Not important ones, no. I’ve successfully surprised my sisters on our birthday before regarding gifts though.”

“So you can keep secrets from one another, you just choose not to?” Loki asked.

“Why do you want to know?” Nal asked him. “Planning on letting me in on a secret?”

They had reached the end of the bridge. Loki looked at her with a serious expression. “Maybe I want to,” he said, “But secrets are best kept to oneself, if they are to remain a secret.”

He disappeared in a flash of light. Nal sighed and gestured to the man in the nearest flyer to let her climb aboard as his words stayed on her mind.

****

Tarah was taking her first steps in the healer’s rooms when Daianya appeared. For a second they just stared at one another, then Daianya ran forwards and pulled Tarah into a tight embrace. 

“I was so worried about you,” she said.

“ _You_ were worried? I woke up from being healed and got told you had been captured!” Tarah exclaimed. “I’ve been pretending to be calm ever since.”

Daianya kissed her. “I’m fine,” she said when they broke apart. “Are you…? I mean… your leg?”

“I’m up and walking. Slight limp at the moment but I’ve been told that is just because I’m not used to having no feeling below the knee. With practice I will be able to walk normally, run, jump, I’ll barely notice any difference.”

Daianya paused awkwardly. They both knew that Tarah’s ‘normal’ wasn’t the same as most people’s.

“Are you, have you thought about the future?” she asked.

“Right now? No, not really,” Tarah said, “But I’ve spent my life in the Valkyrie, it’s home, I’m sure they’ll find a place for me.”

Daianya bit her lip. “I’m sorry – ”

“For saving my life? Don’t you dare, I was trapped under a tank and about to get crushed and mangled by the rest of it. I knew what you had to do. And I don’t remember a lot once the blood loss got really bad, but I distinctly remember nodding my permission for you to save my life,” Tarah said. “So I don’t want to hear any apologies about that ever, okay?”

Daianya breathed out slowly. “Okay,” she said, “I promise.”

“That’s better,” Tarah said. “I’m so glad you’re alright. Why did Eitri let you go so easily?”

“He wants peace,” Daianya said. “He thought it might help the process if he let me return instead of keeping me hostage.”

“He was wrong,” said Bor from behind them. He strode into the room with Odin on his heels. “I will never allow his betrayal to stand, if he truly wants peace he can surrender.”

Daianya paused, she didn’t want to have a fight in the middle of the healer’s rooms. “I think we need to have a meeting about that, Grandfather,” she said instead.

“I _had_ asked that you come straight to me, but somehow the message must have gotten lost,” Bor said, glancing across at Anima, who shrugged. 

“I forgot,” she said.

“Well I want everyone to come to my office so that we can discuss everything,” Bor said, looking at Daianya.

Daianya looked at Tarah, “I’ll come back afterwards,” she promised.

Tarah gave her a quick kiss, “I know,” she said.

They filed out and followed Bor down the corridors.

“I’m glad to see that you are alright,” Odin said to Daianya.

“I’m surprised to see you still awake,’ Daianya said, “The battle is over, you should be sleeping now.”

“That’s what I told him,” Bor said gruffly.

“I couldn’t sleep while you were captured,” Odin said, sounding hurt that she would think he would.

“What if Eitri kept her? You should just get it over with, get yourself back up to strength,” Bor said. 

“I agree with Grandfather,” Daianya said.

Odin sighed heavily. “I’ll go tonight, assuming that there are no more surprises,” he said.

“Where’s Nal?” Bor asked.

“Still heading back from the Bifrost I assume,” Anima said. “She was taking the long way.

“Well I don’t want to wait, go and get her,” Bor said.

Anima paused for a second to ask Nal where she was.

“She’s on a flyer that’s almost here anyway,” Anima said. “She says she’ll meet us in your office.”

Bor grunted and kept walking.

**** 

The moment Nal joined them and the door to Bor’s office was closed behind them he turned to Daianya. “Tell us everything you saw,” he said.

“The inside of a cell,” Daianya said. “That and the walk to the Dwarven Bifrost Gate, which did not contain anything of strategic note, but Eitri and I did talk about the war. He wants to make peace.”

“You said that, and you know my response,” Bor said.

“He’s prepared to die for it,” Daianya said.

That made the room pause.

“What?” Odin asked.

“He knows Grandfather won’t stop until he’s dead, but he wants to take Hela down with him. He said he would consider it a fair trade,” Daianya said. 

“Hela can’t die,” Odin and Nal said at the same time.

Daianya shrugged. “He must think differently,” she said, “But holds her responsible for the death of Sindri, and he won’t stop until she is dead or permanently imprisoned for the death of his brother. In fact, that appears to be how this war got started.”

“It got started when three thousand Vanir died in twenty minutes at the hands of a Titan who should never have been allowed to wield the power he did,” Bor said. “Eitri caused that, and he considers the single life of his brother to compare?”

“No,” Daianya said, “But he didn’t know Thanos had the gauntlet.”

“Bullshit,” Bor said.

“I read his soul, his surprise was genuine,” Daianya said. “He had made the gauntlet on commission without meeting the client. Once he found out who it was he didn’t go through with delivery, but the gauntlet was stolen at a later date by Brokkr. _He_ gave it to Thanos in revenge for Sindri’s death. All of this conflict came about because Hela killed Sindri.”

“Sindri insulted our family,” Bor said.

“Yes, but insults are rarely settled with outright murder,” Nal said. “Hela escaped punishment because of who she is, not because our laws allow what she did.”

“You destroyed the Great Hall because you lost your temper, allowances are made when necessary,” Bor said, “If they weren’t half the population would be in prison.”

Nal flushed purple at the reminder of her loss of control.

“If Eitri has spoken of his plans to Daianya then he must have a reasonable degree of confidence that he can achieve them,” Odin said. “He’s too clever to speak in hypotheticals. He must have a way to imprison her ready and waiting.”

“We’d better warn her then,” Bor said. “If they have a way to capture her then she needs to be more cautious on the battlefield. But we aren’t handing her over, not even for Eitri’s head, not when we can take it from his shoulders ourselves.”

“Can we? It’s been fifty years and we’re not exactly close to doing so,” Anima said.

Bor scowled. “You could probably do it with magic,” he said, frowning at her.

Anima gave him a small, almost secretive smile. “If I did that, it’d never stop talking to you afterwards,” she said. “Magical deaths are rarely without complications.”

“Either way,” Bor said, looking a little unsettled, “If Hela does wind up in a trap you at least have the power to break her out again. Eitri will not succeed in his plan without our consent and I do not intend to give it.”

Daianya glanced away from him, her eyes found Nal’s who read her carefully blank expression and raised an eyebrow.

 _Later,_ Daianya thought.

She should have known better than to try and keep Eitri’s real plan from her sisters, try as they might they would always be inside one another’s heads. 

Odin swayed slightly in place, which caught Bor’s attention.

“Oh will you please just go to bed?” he said.

****

The three sisters met in Nal’s room as soon as they were able.

“Tell us everything,” Nal said.

Daianya sat down on the edge of the bed and gave a heavy sigh. “He’s going to kill Hela,” she said. “He’s figured out a way.”

“Keeping that information from the King is technically treason,” Nal said. “But a little treason never hurt anyone when Hela was concerned, when’s he planning to do it?”

“As soon as he meets her in battle again,” Daianya said. “He almost did it this time, but I ruined it by throwing a sword at him.”

“Was he mad?” Anima asked.

“Just disappointed,” Daianya said. “The act of killing her will kill him too; he’s prepared to do it anyway. But afterwards he needs me to destroy the weapon he’ll be using. It cannot fall into the King’s hands; it’s far too powerful and dangerous to the whole of Yggdrasil.”

“Was that the pain I felt during the battle?” Anima asked.

“You too?” Nal said.

“I think we all felt it. Yggdrasil’s pain is our own,” Daianya said. “But he said the act of killing her would only kill him, He said he promised Yggdrasil to give up his life, I’m not sure how it accepted though.”

“Yggdrasil’s ways are mysterious,” Anima said.

“All I know is, when I went to run forwards to interfere I was held back by vines twisting around my feet that weren’t there a second earlier,” Daianya said. “I thought it was a Dwarven trap, but my arm felt stiff as well when I went to throw, so now I’m not so sure.”

Anima looked impressed. “Well technically speaking all plants in the nine realms are extensions of Yggdrasil’s own form,” she said. “It is every tree, every bush, the golden apples used to grown from trees that sprouted at Idunn’s command, but they were always an extension of Yggdrasil.”

“You think Yggdrasil tried to _physically_ hold you back?” Nal asked, “And you _fought that?_ ”

“Wish we still had one of those apples,” Anima said under her breath, “That’d fix Tarah’s leg right up.”

“It’s a little frightening to think about, but yes?” Daianya said. “I think it wants Hela dead as much as anyone else who meets her.”

“It made her,” Nal said. 

“Maybe it made a mistake?” Daianya said.

“Can it do that?” Nal asked.

They both turned to Anima, the resident Yggdrasil scholar, who shrugged.

“Yggdrasil made all of us, it gave us free will, so, I suppose there’s nothing stopping any of us from using our free will to harm it. We just don’t because we know better. If Hela’s instability was a mistake then I suppose by being a threat to all of us she’s technically a threat to Yggdrasil itself. Yggdrasil is still a living being, any living being can have errors at the cellular level, which we technically all are.”

“So yes, Yggdrasil can make mistakes,” Nal said, “What do we do with this knowledge of Eitri’s plans? Hela is on our side.”

“What matters more, defending one Asgardian, or peace between the realms?” Daianya asked.

“Peace,” Anima said, “Two lives, Hela’s and Eitri’s, to stop the deaths of thousands in a drawn out and bloody war under a King who cannot see the damage this is all causing.”

Nal took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I guess the next time Hela geos into battle, we’ll all be busy elsewhere,” she said.


	16. Reports

Hela stood opposite King Bor as he told the room Eitri’s plans for her. Unlike the informal meeting of Daianya’s return home this was an official war briefing, and everyone who had responsibilities on and off the battlefield was present. General’s Hymir and Solveig sat side by side with identical serious faces, flanked by Commanders Lomax, Herja, Mara and Elsa. Daianya was present and spoke Eitri’s message again, and Nal and Anima stood in the corner and stayed quiet as Loki lounged over by the window. Odin sat at his father’s side, looking exhausted. He had promised to give in to sleep soon, but the temptation to join the meeting had proven too great and he had fought through yet another night.

The news that Eitri only intended to try and trap her was not the relief she thought it would be. Hela knew better. That moment on the battlefield when Eitri’s weapon had been raised had been intended to kill her, and she knew it.

“He’s lying,” Hela said.

“He was very confident in his ability to trap you,” Daianya said. 

“He’s _lying,_ ” Hela repeated. “He intends to kill me.”

Bor laughed. “You can’t die,” he said. “But you might be inconvenienced until we can figure out what Eitri’s trap does and how to break you out of it. I don’t suppose he let slip anything about it?” he asked Daianya.

Daianya shook her head. “He said he wanted Hela imprisoned in exchange for his life and for peace. I assume he has a way of holding her or else he wouldn’t make the offer, but he didn’t exactly show me around.”

“He’s. Lying.” Hela said through gritted teeth. No one was taking her seriously. No one believed that Eitri could have made a god-killing weapon. No one knew that she was in danger, real danger.

But why would they? Hela had always been indestructible. Her body could be blown away to atoms and she’d eventually pull together a new one. Pain didn’t seem to affect her the way it did others. In fact until Eitri had cut into her with his weapon she’d never truly understood that pain, well, _hurt_.

“”What’s the matter Hela, not afraid of a little confinement are you?” Loki asked, watching her face closely.

Hela scowled at him. She longed to kill him right there in front of everyone, but he was an annoyingly good fighter and she knew that, despite Bor’s hatred of the trickster, he wouldn’t approve of removing an ally from the battlefield in the middle of a war without a very good reason.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” she lied. “But I know Eitri doesn’t intend to merely trap me. He had a weapon, a new weapon, it… it could do serious damage.”

Bor turned to Daianya, “Did you see any new weapon?” he asked her.

“No,” Daianya said. “Eitri is, of course, capable of making many powerful things, but he didn’t feel the need to show me any of them.”

“You saw this weapon, Hela?” Bor asked, looking interested. “And you believe it might actually be strong enough hurt you?”

His eyes were shining with sudden desire. Bor had never met a weapon he didn’t covet.

Hela nodded, please he was taking her seriously. “It’s stronger than anything we have, anything we’ve _ever_ had,” she said.

“Good, get it from him the next time you fight. In fact I want that to be made a priority,” he added to the room at large. “We don’t want something like that in the hands of the Dwarfs.”

“You look pale, Hela, sleeping okay?” Loki asked her.

Hela growled under her breath. “I want to kill him,” she said, “Instead we stand around talking!”

“That’s usually how plans are made, yes,” Loki said.

“Shut up, trickster,” Bor said. “I haven’t heard about any great battle feats from you.”

“I held my own, protected some people, killed a few poor bastards who probably would have preferred to be at home at the forges, you know, battle,” Loki said.

Bor gave him a dark look. “I will not have sympathisers in my ranks,” he said.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get no sympathy from me,” Loki shot back.

Hela looked from one to the other in growing annoyance. She didn’t want to return to battle until she knew Eitri had been taken care of, but she didn’t want to admit that she was afraid, and she didn’t know who could possibly help her, maybe Father, if he ever went and got some bloody sleep.

“Father, you should rest,” she said.

Odin looked surprised and a little bit pleased with her. Hela never commented on the welfare of others, and she certainly didn’t intend to tell him that her concern was for her own welfare rather than his.

“I promise I will go once this meeting is over,” he said.

“So you’ll listen to Hela but not your father?” Bor asked.

“Yeah Odin, why won’t you listen to your father?” Loki said.

“Shut up,” Bor said.

“The Valkyrie will be ready to move out again in two days,” General Solveig said, drawing attention back to the matter at hand. “I have determined that we will head towards the Argot system and raid the Dwarf mines there. Without the ore from the mines their ability to construct more tanks and traps will be diminished. In addition, it leaves us close by for a few weeks in case Eitri mounts a counter attack on Asgard.”

General Hymir nodded. So did Odin. “A good strategy,” he said.

“General Hymir, how long does the third flank intend to remain?” Bor asked.

“As long as necessary to stop getting themselves killed, “General Hymir said bluntly. “They are reckless and a liability in the field. Too many of them have had their heads filled with True Men’s Alliance rubbish.”

Bor made a sound of annoyance. “I hate that bloody boys club,” he said.

“They are big supporters of the throne,” Commander Lomax said.

“Yes, yes, but they hate the Valkyrie, and right now the Valkyrie are the ones doing most of the work out there to keep us safe,” Bor said. “And I’ve seen their pamphlets, they want Odin to have a son to follow him, when he’s got a perfectly good daughter.”

He nodded towards where Hela and Daianya stood side by side. Anyone watching would be hard pressed to tell which one he’d been looking at.

“Still, their loyalty is unquestionable,” Commander Lomax said.

“They could start by training a bit harder in the King’s army then,” General Hymir said. 

“Of course,” Commander Lomax said. “Loyalty can only get you so far, they also need to be obedient and hard-working.”

“I’d just kill Lord Elbin,” Hela said. “The rest would soon see how flawed they are.”

“Are you sure you could handle it, you seem less eager to fight than normal, Hela my dear,” Loki said.

Hela scowled at him as Daianya and General Solveig both rolled their eyes.

“Loki, stop it,” Nal said.

“Or I’ll kill you next,” Hela said.

“No one is killing anyone, there’s a war on remember?” Odin said.

Bor shrugged. “One trickster isn’t that great of a loss,” he said.

Anima sighed heavily.

“Are we wasting your time?” Bor asked.

She looked back at him levelly, “Well yes, actually, I have research I need to do and instead I’m standing in a room of ancient beings sniping at each other like children,” she said.

Bor’s face actually went a little red at her audacity. “I am your king,” he said.

“Do we have anything else to discuss?” Odin asked, attempting to draw attention back to the matter at hand.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Fine,” Bor said, “Go then.”

****

“What has gotten into you?” Odin asked Anima the second they were on the other side of the door.

“I’m just tired of all the silly squabbling,” Anima said. “Life is short, Father, at least it is in my experience. We could have spent a few days investigating Eitri’s actions and found out that he had not given the gauntlet to Thanos. This whole war could have been avoided if everyone in charge had actually wanted to avoid it. But they didn’t, the call of war was too much and now people are dead who shouldn’t be, lives are cut short and other people will forever live with injuries they shouldn’t have had. It angers me.”

Odin looked sadly at his youngest daughter. She so rarely gave in to temper that he felt an ache to know that the war was having that effect on her. “There will be peace one day,” he said. “No war lasts forever.”

“The Jotun war lasted for a thousand years,” Anima said, “And it only ended with a marriage to bind it. Somehow I don’t see anyone marrying Eitri, or a new Dwarf queen for Asgard.”

Odin sighed. “There’s always a way to win,” he said. “We’ll find it, and all will be well again.”

Anima shook her head. “There isn’t you know,” she said. “Sometimes no matter how well you plan or how hard you try, you still lose.”

Odin shook his head. “Not me, I’m the God of War and Victory,” he said with a smile, “Trust me, daughter, I will find a way through this.”

He turned away and left her, heading up towards the healer’s chambers where he would spend at least a day – probably longer after resisting for so long – locked into the Odinsleep, able to see and sense the world but unable to react to it in any way. Odin hated feeling so helpless, but he’d waited long enough, it was time. 

****

Amora rode on top of Grundroth with slow, even motions. He moaned in delight beneath her as she rocked her hips over and over. It wasn’t easy, taking a frost giant, but a little magic and a lot of practice allowed her to manage it.

“Oh, oh, oh,” she moaned, keeping up the act. In truth she found him annoying at best, but he had showered her with luxury and power, two things she coveted above all other things. Amora prided herself of working for her rewards, and the bedroom was just another form of work. It always had been. Men, at least men who liked women, were easy for her to manipulate, although she had started life with a couple of natural advantages in that area.

Grundroth was pawing at her natural advantages right now, his large hands covering them completely and then some. His eyes were almost closed in pleasure, and Amora thought to herself, not for the first time, that he’d be really easy to kill right now.

But that would make her the prime suspect, and if she was going to help change the entire governing system of Jotunheim at Laufey’s side, she had to be above suspicion. In fact everyone had to be above suspicion. Grundroth’s death had to look like an accident.

Grundroth moaned loudly and Amora increased her pace a little. 

Of course General Thrym might prove a problem. On the one hand he clearly disagreed with Laufey’s treatment at Grundroth’s hands, which would normally make him a potential ally, but he was also clearly a traditionalist, and would no doubt go to seek Princess Nal when the time came. The biggest saving grace there was that, from what Amora could glean, Nal didn’t want the job.

“My darling,” Amora said as she rocked. “I heard a number of men talking earlier about a Drapht hunt. Apparently it’s very exciting.”

Grundoth’s answer was a moan. Amora kept rocking, trying to find an angle that didn’t make her feel overstuffed like one of the waterfowl she’d had for dinner.

“I’d quite like to see one,” she said.

“One what?” Grundroth asked, “Oh that feels so good, keep going, just like that.”

Amora resisted the urge to grimace. Grundroth always did like this position, although it meant a lot more work for her.

“A Drapht hunt,” she said. “I’d like to see one.”

“They’re very dangerous, that’s how, oh, that’s how King Hailstrum died,” Grundroth said.

“So send your men, and you can stay by my side,” Amora said, between growing gasps.

“Lean forward, lean, yes, like that,” Grundroth said.

Amora gritted her teeth as she bounced up and down. The position she was in was rather undignified and caused her legs to slay out wider than she was comfortable with. Laufey always lifted her up and cradled her, a much better way to fuck.

“The hunt?” she said. “Sending you men? Letting me watch?” 

“Oh, _oh,_ yes darling, I’ll arrange one,” Grundroth said. “Oh yes, oh _yes_.”

He came, spilling inside of her with a spurt of cold. Amora rolled her eyes back and pulled an expression of pure delight, pushing her disgust down like the professional actress she was.

“You always make me feel so good,” she said as she lifted herself off of him, suppressing a sigh of relief as she was able to close her legs again. Her hips ached.

“I wonder how long it will take for you to get pregnant?” Grunroth said. “It’s been two years now, how long to Vanir usually take?”

“A while, we are not like Jotun women,” Amora said.

Finding out that Jotun women reproduced at an average rate of one child a year had been a shock. The only other species capable of reproducing so fast were the mortals and they had their short lifespan as an excuse. 

Of course Amora was actively using magic to avoid pregnancy with Grundroth anyway, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Have you decided who to make your Master of the East?” she asked, gathering her hair up and flicking it back. The action conveniently put her breasts on display and Grundroth’s gaze was immediately fixated.

“Not yet,” he said. “I like Toth, son of Morag, but the Morag sons are a very powerful faction already.”

“Isn’t that just because they’re the last to arrive and so more numerous than other factions that have begun dying of old age?” Amora asked in an innocent tone. “Surely as long as he’s loyal to you it doesn’t matter who his mother was?”

Grundroth chuckled. “You can be very naïve, darling, of course it matters. Loyalty to me is a wonderful thing, but families are also loyal to each other. If the sons of Morag grow too powerful then they can steer the government to benefit themselves. I need to take care to balance them out.”

Amora pouted. “As you wish,” she said.

“Why? Do you want to see him in the post?” Grundroth asked her.

“I’ve never met him, unlike the other one,” Amora said, deliberately muttering the last part.

“What do you mean? I know you’ve met Bergelmir around the place, has he upset you?” Grunroth asked.

Amora slid a hand over his thigh and gave him a brave little smile. “He’s very intimidating, especially when he backs me into corners. But I’m sure he’ll do a good job far away in the East if you give it to him,” she said.

“When did he back you into a corner?” Grundroth asked her, sitting up.

Amora shrugged. “Not long after I arrived. He told me that if you didn’t want me he’d, uh, be happy to take me under his protection, as long as he got to, um, split me like a frozen log.”

Grundroth’s expression darkened.

“You and I weren’t together then, you were still just making sure I was warm and safe,” Amora said. “It’s not like he was trying to steal me from you.”

“Yes he was; everyone knew I desired you the moment I saw you,” Grundroth said, “That traitor.”

Amora climbed on top of his lap and wrapped her arms around him. “Please don’t get angry, not when we’re all alone,” she said. “Give me a kiss, I love your kisses.”

Grundroth relaxed and leaned forward, pressing his larger mouth over her smaller one. “Very well, I have no wish to waste our time with anger at another,” he said. “But Bergelmir is not getting the post of Master of the East, he can go on a nice long diplomatic trip to the highest mountains. I’ll find a reason to send him in the morning.”

Amora took one of his hands and guided it to her breast. “My protector,” she said. “I love you.”

He was already stirring under her, which was annoying, but it wasn’t as though she hadn’t dealt with it before. She put a smile on her face, readied herself, and sank down onto him again.

“Oh, yes,” Grundroth moaned, his head falling back onto the pillows again.

Amora kept her smile in place as she, once again, began rocking up and down.


	17. Plans for Death and Treason

Hela was in the training yard summoning knife after knife and hurling them at rapid speed into the targets lined up against the wall. She was determined to make the vulnerable feeling in her chest disappear as quickly as possible, and that meant EItri had to die, and that weapon had to be destroyed. Nothing more powerful than her should be allowed to exist. She knew the others would feel the same way if they actually encountered the damn thing.

She stopped summoning knives and instead summoned a wave of death, sending it out toward the targets, trying to narrow the focus so that it hit only what she was aiming at.

The target crumbled into pieces of rubble, as did the stones on either side of it, but that was better than she’d done before. Her control was getting better.

Of course if she could get her hand around the weapon itself she could destroy it with a thought… she assumed. But she didn’t want to get close to it; that was too much of a risk.

“You seemed off at the meeting, Hela darling, something wrong?” Loki asked with a crunch of apple as he entered the yard and saw her there.

Hela briefly contemplated sending a wave straight into him, but there were other people about in the distance and she’d be unlikely to get away with disposing of his withered corpse without being caught.

“I’m fine, just getting in some combat practice before the next battle,” she said. “Do you still have that bloody immortal apple?”

“That’s not your normal style,” Loki said, “And yes, it’s an unending food supply, why would I give it up?”

“You haven’t seen me in years, how would you know what my normal style is?” Hela spat, “And it’s a misuse of the Eternal Flame.”

“You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first,” Loki said. “And as for your sudden interest in combat practice, I’ve fought alongside you in the Titan War, in the battle with the Dark Elves, in numerous other minor skirmishes, I’m fairly confident in my assessment that this is an unusual pursuit for you. But I am curious to know why? Did Eitri rattle you that much?”

Hela scowled, “Nothing scares me,” she said.

“You know, as the God of Lies I can tell when someone tells a whopper,” Loki said. “He scared you, that weapon you mentioned in the meeting, can it hurt you?”

It took all of Hela’s self-control not to kill him right there. “Of course not. I can’t die,” she said.

He appeared in her vision on her left side, staring intently into her face with annoying scrutiny. “That has certainly been true so far,” he said, “But if I had to guess I’d say there’s still a few things out there in the universe capable of taking you out. If Eitri’s found, or made, something like that, then that’s important information that we, as your allies, should all have.”

Hela turned to look at him, desperately trying to keep her face stoic. “He has not,” she said.

She never wanted anyone to know she was vulnerable. They might be allies now, but there were too many people on Asgard who would be only too happy to see her gone. That had never bothered her before, but that was when she’d been invincible. 

“So it’s just the thought of being captured then that’s worrying you?” Loki pressed. “Fair enough. Confinement for an unknown period of time isn’t exactly much fun, but sooner or later you’ll get out, that or you’ll stay there until Yggdrasil itself dies, and then it’ll probably take you out with it.”

Hela shot another wave of death towards a target, which crumbled. “You’d do well not to bother me,” she said, “You never know when I might have an accident.”

Loki shrugged. “You’re welcome to try; I could do with a rest. I should let you know thought that I intend to face Eitri at the next engagement. That weapon has me intrigued. I don’t think he should have it. It doesn’t sound like _anyone_ should have it, so naturally I want it.”

Hela pretended to ignore him, but inside she was panicking.

“I intend to destroy Eitri myself,” she said, “Best not get in my way, I can be very indiscriminate in battle.”

Loki shrugged. “Race you then,” he said and walked away.

Hela took a slow breath in. Loki was a problem. He was a better fighter than his flippant attitude made him seem. He was tenacious and once he decided to do something he never gave up. 

Despite the war, and his contribution to it, she would have to kill him. It was the only way to be safe.

****

The announcement of the Master of the East post was made at dinner. Toth, son of Morag, was to fill the post. Amora applauded the decision loudly with a smile on her face. General Thrym, Commander Groupr and the king’s spymaster, Raolr, traded concerned looks.

“That’s fifty percent of the king’s council,” Thrym said softly to his second in command.

“It’s a lot, the sons of Morag have grown in influence steadily over the years,” Groupr said, “But none of them have proven to be bad at their posts.”

“True, they appear to be loyal, but I have concerns about our King’s treatment of Laufey. He is their brother and I doubt they approve of the status he has been given,” Thrym said.

“I have heard whispers of someone, or several someones, wanting to help him flee the palace,” Raolr said. “Personally I feel… understanding, about that particular issue, although it is in defiance of our king’s wishes.”

Thrym looked around at the number of Morag sons sitting at prominent tables. “I’d be open to turning a blind eye if that’s all that was being discussed,” he said, “But are you sure?”

“All I have is whispers,” Raolr said, “Until I hear something more substantial I must wait and hope that their loyalty to their brother does not extend past their loyalty to their king.”

Grundroth stood up again, getting their attention.

“My fellow men, I have decided that the royal court shall be going on a Drapht hunt. My dear Amora has never seen one, and it would be a shame to allow that state of affairs to continue. I shall offer a reward of jewels for the man who brings my dear woman the large scales from a Drapht’s forehead, so that she might wear them as jewellery.”

There was a cheer from the crowd. Amora gazed up at Grundroth in adoration.

“She concerns me more than Laufey, if I may be plain,” Thrym said. “She has bewitched our king completely, he gives her whatever she wants.”

“She’s a woman,” Groupr said.

“She’s a Vanir woman,” Thrym said. “She’s not, you know, a _real_ woman.”

“She makes him happy in exchange for pretty things,” Raolr said. “I do not expect you to underestimate her, she is very cunning and quite clever, but she does appear to have no ulterior motives other than her own comfort which I can live with. One day when our King is gone she will be moved on quickly, and I suspect she knows it.”

“I still don’t trust her,” Thrym said. “Drapht hunting is dangerous, and our King has an unusual heir, and one I would prefer was not on our throne while the Asgardians and the Dwarfs are at each other’s throats.”

“You have never opposed the idea of Nal being the next ruler before,” Raolr said.

“That’s because I don’t,” Thrym said, “Not really, but she is the granddaughter of the King of Asgard. After she takes the throne any war he makes we will be a part of, I can practically guarantee it. I’m not opposed to a few good battles, but I’d prefer to sit out a war with the Dwarfs, we have no quarrel with them.”

“Our king did not say he would participate,” Groupr pointed out, “That’s how Hailstrum died after all. He will no doubt sit by Amora’s side and watch her enjoy herself. I believe we are safe from Nal’s familial influence for a few centuries yet.”

“I hope so,” Thrym said. “I will fetch her, as is my duty, but I hope the war will be long over by then.”

****

Odin lay down on the healer’s bed, feeling awkward as he always did when he needed to sleep. His room was private, but that just meant that a small group of healers would be constantly attending and monitoring him. He could request true privacy but there was always the hope that they would see something that would allow his sleeping to end, and so he allowed it.

He was tired now, his bones were heavy, his blood felt sluggish, his head was buzzing.

“Just let yourself go, your Grace,” Inge said to him with a smile, “We’ll be right here the whole time.”

He forced a smile on his face and glanced over at Frigga, where his smile grew a lot more genuine. “I won’t be out for long,” he told her, “And then we’ll spend some time together, a whole day would be nice.”

“We could go out on a flyer and you can show me the views of Asgard from the mountains,” Frigga said.

“That sounds nice,” Odin said, “Yes, I’ll… show… you… everything.”

He was already lying down, but the sensation of falling came over him regardless, pulling him down and forcing his body to lie limp and his breathing to become even. He was aware of the room still, but he could no longer interact with it. His eyes closed, leaving him blind and helpless, trapped in a conscious state but unable to move.

If he was truly honest with himself, only some of his reluctance came from timing. A lot of it was his aversion to feeling so helpless. His nature was that of strategy and victory, of finding a way through to achieve the goals he set for himself. Being incapacitated so thoroughly went against everything he was.

“Can he still hear me?” he heard Frigga ask.

“According to our scans he is receiving auditory signals,” Inge said.

“Well then I’m going to read to him, at least for a little while. I imagine that you must be quite bored lying here alone with your thoughts,” Frigga said. 

Odin heard a rustle of paper as she opened the book. His face didn’t move, but on the inside he was smiling at her thoughtfulness.

She’d chosen an adventure story, one that Odin recognised but hadn’t read in years. He found his worries drifting away beneath the sound of her voice.

****

Commander Lomax entered the Standing Proud and gave a nod to the barman as he passed through to the private back rooms. Lord Elbin was already waiting.

“You wanted to see me?” Commander Lomax asked as soon as he stepped through the door.

Lord Elbin smiled at him in greeting. “I wanted to tell you about the magical cuff you brought to me,” he said. “The sorcerers have finished analysing it, and Lomax, it is the answer to all our problems.”

“It is?” Commander Lomax asked, his brow furrowing.

Lord Elbin was almost giddy with glee, Commander Lomax had never seen him look so happy before.

“This cuff was made by Eitri himself. Activated by blood, it transports whoever wears it into a seidr pocket so deep that the sorcerers couldn’t find an end to it,” Lord Elbin said. “They theorise that it creates an entirely new dimension, halfway between the physical and the spiritual. It’s a cage, Lomax, one capable of holding Hela in confinement for as long as the spell can draw power.”

Commander Lomax gasped as realisation hit. “That’s why Eitri took to the battlefield!” he exclaimed. “I was at the planning meeting earlier today. Hela said that Eitri himself fought her with some kind of new weapon.”

“Do you think she meant the cuff?” Lord Elbin asked.

“No, but she seemed to imply that it could actually hurt her, at least a little. He must have been trying to subdue her to trap her with the cuff! And Daianya said that Eitri had plans to trap Hela in the same meeting!”

“Daianya? She’s on Asgard?” Lord Elbin asked in shock.

“Eitri released her as some kind of peace offering,” Commander Lomax said. “But if he dropped the cuff he must be waiting until he has made a new one before he will take to the battlefield again.”

“Do you understand what this means?” Lord Elbin asked. “All four princesses back on Asgard, a way to trap Hela, _our men_ brought home by General Hymir. This opportunity will never happen again. We must act now. We must call an emergency meeting and make plans as fast as we can for the future of the realm.”

Commander Lomax paused, drawing in a deep breath. “Yggdrasil smiles on us,” he said. “We can do it, we can remove the princesses from the line of succession.”

“More than that,” Lord Elbin said. “The Valkyrie are also here, all of them.”

“They ship out within days,” Commander Lomax said.

“Then we must strike before the first of them leave,” Lord Elbin said.

“Wait, no, we can’t harm the Valkyrie, we are still at war,” Commander Lomax argued. “Whether we like it or not they provide valuable support in the field and the army is not ready to take up those duties at a time like this.”

Lord Elbin shook his head. “Eitri wants peace, you said,” he said with a smile. “If Asgard were to lose the Valkyrie, _all_ of the Valkyrie, then our King will have to make peace for the sake of the realm. Add to that Eitri’s desire to have Hela removed will be fulfilled, he will agree to a treaty. We can end this war and save our realm on two fronts. We will be heroes.”

Commander Lomax hesitated. “King Bor is determined not to stop until he has Eitri’s head,” he said.

“Prince Odin is a much more reasonable man,” Lord Elbin countered. “He will talk sense into his father, he’s done so before, and besides, losing all four princesses will make even King Bor pause in his fighting. He will not send his son back out into the field without an heir, and without Hela, the Valkyrie _and_ Odin the battles will be impossible to maintain on all fronts.”

Commander Lomax frowned, still uncertain. He believed in the cause with all his soul, but he had also spent his life as a military man, whereas Lord Elbin had not.

“If he insists?” he asked.

“Then I shall call a Nobles’ Council and ask that he be voted as unstable,” Lord Elbin said. “Odin is steady and will make a good king. He will also see the sense in peace. He will not like it, but with enough noble backing if Bor does not sue for peace then Odin will accept our vote to depose him.”

“The Nobles’ Council has only ever succeeded in doing such a thing once,” Commander Lomax said.

“I have a great many allies among the nobles, men who do not wish to see their daughters harmed by an invasion, or their sons killed in an unwinnable war,” Lord Elbin said. “Trust me, Lomax, this is politics. We can save Asgard from the path it’s on, but we must act now.”

Commander Lomax slowly began to nod. “I have faith in you as our leader,” he said, pushing the last of his reluctance to the side, “How shall it be done?”

“We need to make a list of the opposition, people who must fall with the princesses,” Lord Elbin said, “General Solveig and her Commanders, of course, but also all the trainers and senior Valkyrie, anyone who has the ability to rebuild them. The trainees can be spared for the most part, they will scatter back to their families, although anyone who close to graduating cannot be allowed to live.”

“Frigga, and a number of prominent ladies from the palace,” Commander Lomax said. “Not too many, of course, but Lady Sifa and Lady Dalir are very outspoken and prominent supporters of the Valkyrie in court.”

Lord Elbin nodded. “And General Hymir,” he said, writing the name down.

Commander Lomax paused, “The General?” 

“He’s a strong supporter of the Valkyrie, he will do all he can to rebuild them in the absence of their own leadership. You know this, Lomax, he’s never come around even slightly to our views. I would prefer not to lose him, but we can’t afford for him to live,” Lord Elbin said. “Besides, as his second in command you will be given total command of the army. You will be able to divert the funds currently used for the Valkyrie into growing the army, where the resources should be going anyway.”

Commander Lomax nodded. “I understand,” he said. “Hymir is a good man and a great General, I will make sure he is remembered as such.”

“The head healer, Inge, she needs to go as well,” Lord Elbin said. “She’s in too high a position of power, we have healers of our own, good capable men, who can run the healers wing. The other _female_ healers can remain beneath them.”

“There are no men in line for promotion in the healers wing at present,” Commander Lomax said.

“I will push them forwards, I have influence,” Lord Elbin said, “Oh and Loki, Loki needs to die.”

“The King will know that the True Men’s Alliance is responsible,” Commander Lomax said. “Even with scapegoats he will see the pattern.”

“Yes,” Lord Elbin said. “That is why some of our own must also die. Get me a list of the weakest men in the barracks. They will give their lives for the cause. In the aftermath I shall immediately make announcements that we have been targeted. It will be plausible that the culprits are a breakaway sect, we’ll give them a name, a meeting place, everything we need for them to be caught. This will put us and our organisation on the king’s side. We shall become his staunchest allies.”

Commander Lomax nodded. “I shall arrange it right away,” he said.

“And I shall call an emergency meeting for tomorrow night,” Lord Elbin said. “We only have one chance at this, we cannot waste it.”

****

Hela walked through the Death Garden as casually as she could. She rarely spent time in any garden, but would occasionally walk through this one, and that’s all she was doing, just walking, like always, no ulterior motives at all.

A wave of pure death was tempting to use to kill Loki, but could easily be traced back to her. Under normal circumstances she might just weather the storm and trust in her value to the king and the love of her father to carry her through, but during war time even Loki had value, and Hela did not want to have to explain why he was dead instead of fighting for Asgard.

She approached the Death Flower plant with a smile. It had been decades since she’d last laid eyes on it. Under Nal’s care it had grown lush, and was flowering with eight delicate blossoms.

Hela reached out and picked two of them, careful not to allow herself to brush the plant with any exposed skin. It may not be able to kill her but collapsing until the poison wore off wasn’t on her to do list for the day.

She retreated from the garden, relieved to have gotten away without anyone seeing – 

“Hela”

She froze. “Your Majesty?” she said, turning to see Bor standing in the shadow of one of the arches that lined this part of the garden.

He walked over to her as she tried her best to look innocent. It wasn’t like he _knew_.

“I know you took some flowers from one of the plants in the Death Garden,” he said. “Nal had alarms and recording devices placed years ago which alerted me in my office.”

Shit.

“I was… planning to poison my blades with them… for Eitri,” Hela said.

Bor just stared at her. “Why would you need to do that?” he asked.

“His new weapon,” hela said, “It slows me down, if he gets in a hit. I’ve been working on avoidance manoeuvres, but if I can nick him even once then he’ll die even if I can’t slay him directly.”

She was actually proud of herself for coming up with such a good lie on the spot.

“And if you were to say… use it on the trickster?” Bor said.

Hela blinked in surprise. “How did you know?” she blurted out.

“What?” Bor asked.

“What?” Hela repeated, suddenly confused.

“I asked you if you would be willing to use a little poison on Loki,” Bor said.

“In the middle of a war?” Hela asked.

“Well, you pay attention to your father’s strategy lessons well enough, I can see that, but frankly I don’t think Loki has contributed all that much to the war effort, and his comments sympathising with the Dwarf soldiers were concerning. Tell me, why do you want him dead?" Bor asked.

He taunts me, he makes fun of my skills and nearly everything I do. He annoys me more than anyone else in the whole of Asgard," Hela said.

Bor nodded. "Now try putting up with that for two thousand years," he said, "I fucking hate him and I want him gone more than I need him on the battlefield. Now is the perfect time."

“You want me to kill him.” Hela said, her eyes lighting up and an expression of pure delight spreading across her face.

“I want him gone. I want no witnesses. I want no… complications. Can you do it?” Bor asked quietly, “Because if you can’t, if you get caught, we never spoke.”

Hela forced herself to look serious. “This flower, once properly prepared, is not survivable,” she said in a whisper. “Nal herself told me that decades ago, and I’ve looked it up since then. I know the proper technique, I can do it.”

Bor nodded, just once. “And you can use what remains on Eitri,” he said. “Get it done before Odin wakes. He will have his suspicions, and I want the body to be burned before he’s able to examine it. We will blame the Dwarfs, they hate him enough.”

He turned and headed back into the palace, leaving Hela standing in the shadows fighting to keep the grin off her face.

She headed inside quickly and made her way back to her rooms. The flower, she knew from her failed attempt seventyish years ago, had to dry out before being seeped otherwise it would be a painful, but ultimately not fatal experience. She had gotten her hands on a dehydrator to speed up the process. It would only take a day to prepare the poison.

She felt almost giddy with excitement. The fear that had been dogging her since her fight with Eitri was almost an afterthought in her mind. She _knew_ that all she needed was a good death to get her confidence back.


	18. A Quiet Night

Loki was relaxing by the Home’s Shelter Tree when Nal turned up.

“I thought you’d forgotten this place,” he said to her, opening his eyes and giving her a smile.

“I haven’t been able to get out to the gardens as much as I would like, but today is a quiet day,” she said. “It won’t be quiet for long, but it almost feels like the war isn’t real right now.”

“I know, the quiet should always be appreciated,” Loki said, propping himself on one arm. “I remember before the war, when everything was fun and frivolous. We almost had dinner.”

“We did,” Nal said. “I’m going to pull up some weeds that have been left to run riot in the hanging garden, you can come and lie in the sun there if you want to.”

“And have you make me look lazy? Tempting, but if I come and help you then afterwards we can have lunch in the forest at the base of the mountains. I’ll teleport us,” Loki said. “And after we’ve eaten you can forage around for intriguing plants while I make jokes about being ignored.”

“You are almost impossible to ignore,” Nal said.

“And you are one of the few I have no doubt could manage it,” Loki said back, rising from the ground and holding out his hands. “Can I carry something big and awkward for you?”

Nal reached into the Home’s Shelter Tree and pulled out a shovel. “If you like,” she said, before disappearing inside to grab her gloves and work basket.

They walked together to the hanging garden in silence, just enjoying the warmth of the sun as bees buzzed around them and the air was filled with the scent of all the flowers in bloom.

They worked together in happy companionship for a few hours, with Nal doing most the weeding and Loki most of the carrying of pulled weeds out to the compost heaps on the other side of the palace. In between they spoke about the war, the revelation about Eitri and his new weapon, the King’s stubbornness, and Odin’s sleep.

“He’ll be out for a few days I guarantee it,” Loki said. “He’s gone down for as little as a day before but he was pushing himself even before he came back here, and then he kept putting it off for one reason or another. My guess is that it’ll be a week before we see him rise.”

“He’s never slept for a week before,” Nal said. “I’m guessing about three days, that’s close to the longest he’s ever gone, and he looked about as exhausted then as well.”

“After he’s up we’ll be heading back out to battle, unless somehow Odin can convince our dear, stupid king to make peace,” Loki said.

“It’s not just him, Vanaheim’s king has a personal grudge against Eitri, he will won’t to continue,” Nal said.

“Without Asgard? They’ll be slaughtered,” Loki said.

“I know, but will that be enough to stop King Dimcken from demanding they keep at it?” Nal said. “If Asgard makes peace then they’ve got to soothe things over with Vanaheim as well.”

“Well if Odin would just hurry up and marry Frigga then we could have a wedding, stronger ties, more influence, I’d get my Vanaheim castle, it would be better for everyone really,” Loki said. “She’s well-connected enough to the queen through her mother’s friendship, and she’s very popular with a lot of the nobles after basically running the restoration of the capital. That’ll put pressure on Dimcken to embrace the future and follow Asgard’s lead.” 

“I thought I was supposed to be the budding politician,” Nal said with a smile.

Loki puffed his chest out. “I have been known to make astute observations of my own, on occasion,” he said.

****

Daianya held the reins of the Pegasus as Tarah mounted up awkwardly. “Are you steady?” she asked.

Tarah got a firm grip with her hands and nodded. “I feels strange, but I’m not about to topple,” she said.

Daianya let go and Tarah took the reins, giving the signal for the Pegasus to walk forwards. Daianya walked beside her and tried not to look as though she was hovering. Tarah rode at a gentle pace through the yard, carefully keeping her balance.

“It feels weird,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m going to fall but I also don’t feel as though I could take off just yet.”

“Take your time,” Daianya said. “Every day will get better, and Anima has been researching possible ways to regrow limbs, so this might not be forever.”

Tarah smiled down at her anxious expression. “You are so sweet when you’re worried about me,” she said.

Daianya felt herself blush and put her head down.

“Oh look you’ve gone the same colour as your hair,” Tarah teased.

“Oh shut up,” Daianya mumbled to her feet.

Tarah grinned and turned her ride carefully, walking it through the trainee course with deep concentration. “I may not ever be as good as I was, but I refuse to be an invalid either,” she said.

****

Eir watched guiltily from the shadows as Tarah rode around the yard. Since calling on Yggdrasil for the first time her life had changed drastically for the better, but the knowledge that she’d almost let Tarah die when she should have been better was still weighing her down.

“What kind of healing goddess freezes up when someone is hurt?” she whispered to herself.

“Excuse me?”

Eir jumped and turned around, eyes wide, already wondering what she’d done wrong now.

The woman who stood there was not one of the healers, but a young lady with a pale, drawn face and dark shadows under her eyes. She was also pregnant.

“Yes?” Eir asked, “Are you alright?”

The lady shook her head. “I’ve been having such a lot of pain from the baby,” she said in a voice like a whisper, “But my husband won’t let me see the healers, but I saw you here and… I thought… I hoped… can you help me?”

Eir stepped into the shadows with a concerned look on her face. “What do you mean he won’t let you?” she said. “The palace healers are free, there is no obstacle.”

“He says I deserve it for trying to leave him,” said the lady, “He said I should endure it because it means our son is strong.”

Eir put her hand out and immediately felt the problem. The poor woman’s back was under severe strain from the increased weight in her belly. “I can fix this,” she said, “Come to the healers chambers right now and I’ll – ”

“I can’t, he’ll know. Can you fix it with god-magic?” the lady asked, sounding desperate. “Can you do it quickly?”

Eir glanced over her shoulder but no one was watching them. “Hold on,” she said and concentrated.

The power rose like an old friend. After the first time, it had come easily to her. Now it travelled down her arm and moved into the lady’s body, shifting ligaments and carefully moving the baby into a better position for his mother.

“Who are you?” EIr asked, “Who is your husband. He cannot treat you like this.”

“Myia Catrensdottir, and my husband is Tifer Koblowson. He is well connected among the nobles, and he and my father are both members of the True Men’s Alliance,” Myia said. “I tried to leave him just after the wedding, but then there was that fight between Princesses Hela and Nal, and I was taken out of the palace and away until I learnt my lesson. Thank you for helping me.”

She turned away to leave but Eir reached out and caught her arm. “Come with me and tell Inge what is happening to you, she’ll know what to do to keep you safe,” she said. “You don’t have to stay with someone who hurts you.”

Myia looked down at her feet. “If he realises I’m gone I’ll be punished,” she said and pulled away. 

Eir frowned deeply. “This isn’t right,” she said.

“What’s not right?” Tyr asked, coming around the corner. Myia was already gone.

“No one should be forced to stay with someone who hurts them,” Eir said. 

“Whose hurting who?” he asked.

Eir shook her head. “One of those True Men is hurting his wife. She’s afraid to leave because she doesn’t think she’ll be supported, but that’s not true, people will help her.”

“The True Men don’t hurt women,” Tyr said, “They just believe that women have their place and need guidance to stop them from being silly.”

Eir put her hands on her hips and regarded him in a way that made him start to look uncomfortable. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, and I grew up in a village that prides itself on the quality of its idiots,” she said.

Tyr shrugged awkwardly. “I mean… it’s not… if a man truly knew the best path?” he stuttered.

“Then he ought to have no trouble finding a woman to willingly walk it with him,” Eir said. “My father told me I should give up my dream of healing, and work in the fields with my brothers and sisters, did he know the right path for me? No! I’m a _Goddess of Healing!_ Yggdrasil knew the best path for me, and that’s how it should be.”

“Who was she?” Tyr asked.

Eir shook her head. “Healers don’t tell,” she said and walked away from him.

****

That night at the feast Bor and Hela sat side by side, observing Loki making merry further down the Great Hall.

“So when will you be ready?” Bor asked quietly.

“Tomorrow morning,” Hela said.

There was a sudden noise of laughter from the other side of the hall, where Lord Elbin held a mini court of his own.

“I don’t suppose you’ll have any left over?” Bor queried.

Hela shrugged. “Maybe, this is a new side to you, your Majesty.”

Bor shrugged. “I’ve grown tired of watching bastards run around with impunity in my realm. We have laws, and for the most part I agree with them, but some people just…”

He trailed off, but Hela nodded in understanding. “Some people do indeed,” she said.

****

Anima was nose deep in a book about regeneration, paying no attention at all to the crowd in the feast hall. With a look of uncertain determination she reached out and picked up a chop bones from Nal’s plate. She held it up and concentrated, and the bone grew a mass of flesh, unrecognisable from the chop it used to be.

Two seats down, Tarah turned and gave Daianya a look on concern.

“She’s still researching,” Daianya said, correctly guessing the reason for the look. “She won’t do anything to you until she knows she can succeed.”

“That chop looks like something we’d kill on sight,” Tarah said.

“Just a work in progress,” Daianya assured her.

****

Nal took a sip of wine and scanned the room. She could see Loki making people laugh off to the right, and Lord Elbin making _his_ people laugh to her left. She hated him so much. He was the only person she actually wouldn’t mind in the slightest if Hela just… killed. Of course killing anyone for no reason was wrong, but on the other hand, Asgard would be a lot better off if Lord Elbin wasn’t in it.

Of course that still left the True Men’s Alliance. No doubt they would borderline worship the memory of the man, and unlike the king or Odin, Nal did not underestimate the underground group who was steadily growing more powerful as the years went past. She was actually a little bit annoyed that General Hymir had brought so many of them back to Asgard. She’d been secretly hoping they’d all get themselves killed on the battlefield and that the movement’s strength would be set back considerably as a result.

Almost as if he could sense her watching, Lord Elbin looked up at the high table and made eye contact. Nal stared him down, refusing to look away. He laughed and turned his head in a dismissive motion, which only made her anger grow.

“Is it getting cold in here? Bank up the fires,” Bor said.

Nal hastily got herself under control and turned her head to look at Loki instead. He was watching her as well, and gave her a fond smile as he saw her looking, so different to his usual mocking grin.

She knew he cared about her, maybe even loved her, but until he could trust her things between them would always be… distant.

****

Odin was bored. He was trapped in his own body with nothing but the sounds of the healers moving around in the other rooms to keep him company. Frigga, Yggdrasil bless her, had read until her voice had grown hoarse, and then promised to seek out a tonic and return to finish the book for him. Inge had come in then and shooed her off to dinner as well, so she wouldn’t be back for a while.

It was for the best. As kind as her gesture was Odin felt slightly guilty knowing that she was standing vigil at the expense of her own hunger and comfort.

‘When I marry her, she will have all the comfort I can provide,’ he thought to himself. 

Perhaps it was confidence that led the thought, perhaps arrogance, but she had stayed by his side which not too many people were willing to do.

Anima had dropped in at one point to check on him, but she had research to do and had only stayed for a few minutes. Nal and Daianya had inspected his chamber briefly to confirm that it was set out properly, but they hadn’t stayed long either. Hela hadn’t visited at all.

Odin reached out with his magic, trying to test what he could still do while so trapped and helpless. He could sense some of the minds around him. Inge’s mind was nearby, so were a few others, and there were a couple of ravens sitting on the window sill outside.

They felt his probing and he felt their amusement in return. Asgardian ravens were clever birds, and partly magical themselves. They were curious as to how he was with them but also not, and he tried his best to explain that his body was inside the building, which his mind was roaming.

They found the concept hilarious. They kept jumping very slightly further and further away, making him follow them with his magic. One of them jumped back and cawed loudly, trying to disrupt his concentration for its own amusement.

‘You could let me ride with you,’ Odin thought to it.

It found the idea interesting, and he felt the barrier to its mind weaken as it invited him in. He moved to join it and his mind suddenly filled with sight. It was disconcerting at first, the raven’s eyes were in a different place to his own and it took him a few minutes not to feel disorienting.

Then the raven took flight. Odin felt his heart leap in his chest as he soared high into the sky. The raven ducked and dove, turned in the air, and eventually landed high up on one of the palace railings, where it cawed loudly at their shared triumph.

Odin felt like cheering himself. It had taken a lot of effort but riding in the mind of the raven had been worth it. He could see, and hear, and _move_.

He wondered how the feast was progressing and no sooner than he had the thought the raven launched itself into the air to fly down to one of the big windows which looked into the Great Hall. Odin saw his family sitting up at the high table. He felt a sense of surprise and delight to se Bor and Hela speaking quietly together, apparently getting along well. He had tried so hard to teach Hela how to be a good ruler and he could only hope someday that his lessons were having the desired result. But if his father was happy to be in her company, perhaps Odin had been more successful than he’d thought.

Daianya was sitting with Tarah and looking happy. It was good to see, and Odin felt a pang of worry at the thought that Daianya would be heading back out to war soon, especially a war that no longer seemed as necessary or just as it had done just a few days earlier.

Nal looked annoyed and sour. Odin wished that she could find something to be happy about, but she had always been his most serious child, in fact he couldn’t remember her ever laughing, not once. She smiled when amused, or when polite, but never laughed.

And there was Anima, nose in a book. Odin felt his heart soften to look at her. His baby, so powerful and yet so often innocent. He would do anything to preserve that innocence if he could.

The raven was growing bored, and Odin didn’t want to fight with it. Being allowed into its head was a privilege he didn’t want to lose. Even the few moments it had allowed him were Valhalla to the boredom his mind was forced to endure when he slept.

The raven flew across the garden from tree to tree. Odin stayed with it as long as he could, enjoying the sense of freedom from his cage. Before he left he asked it if it would mind hosting him again in the future and it agreed.

Odin bid it farewell for now and retreated from its mind. He returned to his own self and tried not to feel frustrated at so little time had passed.


	19. The Death of Loki of Utgard

Loki woke the following morning with a loud and annoying yawning sound. He didn’t have to do it, but there were a great many things he didn’t have to do that he still did just for his own amusement.

Breakfast was on the table. It had already been brought in by one of the servants. There was hot tea and fresh fruit juice, cuts of meat and thick toast, fried eggs and grapes.

Loki reached out and picked up his immortal apple from the bedside table. Another thing he’d done for his own amusement. Watching it reassemble itself after every bite filled him with endless delight and, of course, apple.

He took a bite and climbed out of bed. He pulled on his dressing gown and stuck the rapidly reforming apple in his pocket as he helped himself to a bite of toast.

The day stretched out ahead of him gloriously. No doubt Nal would be busy with the work of running the realm, but maybe he could steal her away for lunch again. If not then he’d go into the city and find something to keep himself busy. 

He picked up the tea and swallowed a mouthful while reaching for a grape.

Something was wrong; he felt it immediately. His tongue went numb and his throat followed almost immediately. Within seconds his stomach began to cramp and he coughed hard, falling from his chair and hitting the floor hard. His legs curled up to his stomach but that did nothing to stop the cramps that wracked his body without mercy.

“Well… this… sucks…” he groaned as the poison reached his bloodstream and his muscles seized up. His lungs stopped moving and his limbs began to tremble randomly.

****

Hela stepped out of the shadows with wide, delighted eyes. She’d done it. He was dead. He was actually, truly, dead. 

She knew she should leave and let the servant who came to clean up breakfast find the body, but the feeling of his cells dying in a cascade was almost intoxicating. She couldn’t move.

She was so caught up she almost didn’t hear the door. She turned just in time to see Nal walk through, holding her own breakfast on a tray.

Nal’s eyes widened as she saw Loki on the ground and she dropped her tray as she ran to him. 

“Loki!” she yelled, shaking his shoulders. 

Hela backed away nervously. Bor had said no witnesses, although she was pretty sure he hadn’t meant to kill Nal.

Nal turned in place, looking up at Hela from the ground. Her red eyes were blazing with fury as the temperature in the room began to drop sharply.

“What did you do?” she hissed.

Hela instinctively summoned a wave of death and threw it out in front of her. She’d find a way to explain it, she’d talk her way out of it somehow.

The black energy froze in mid-air as the windows all shattered from the cold.

Hela stared at it in shock as her bones began to ache from the cold seeping into them. Nal stood up, fury on her face. Claws began to grow on her fingers and frost was beginning to form around her eyes.

She made a motion with her hand and Hela’s wave _shattered_. Hela backed away uncertainly. The last time she and Nal had fought Hela had undeniably won. She had a feeling that things weren’t about to end the same way this time.

The fear that had plagued her since Eitri’s attack resurfaced, and Hela turned and leapt out of the nearest broken window, wanting only to get away from something terrifying that she couldn’t explain.

She fell all the way to the ground, but even as her legs and pelvis shattered she didn’t care. Hela didn’t really feel pain the way other people did, and her bones began to heal immediately. She turned and looked behind her and she struggled to her feet.

Nal had followed her. Unable to fly or survive the fall, she was instead forming ice beneath her feet to stabilise and control her decent. Her face was a mask of fury, and her eyes were fixated on Hela.

Hela ran. She tore across the yard toward the flyers, wanting only to get away from the cold that was rapidly chasing her, fingers of which were slicing across her back.

She reached the flyers and kicked the man out of the first one hard enough to launch him into the second one. She hit the controls and took to the air, breathing in a sigh of relief as she took off, knowing that, no matter what else she could do, Nal couldn’t fly.

Behind her, a blue clawed hand reached up and latched on to the railing at the edge of the flyer. It was joined by another, and then Nal’s head appeared as she pulled herself up.

Hela sensed something behind her and turned, letting out a scream of fear at the sight of Nal crawling onto the surface of the flyer. The frost around her eyes made her look like she was wearing a white mask. Her teeth had become sharp and wolf-like, and she was utterly, undeniably, pissed.

She shrieked in anger and launched herself at Hela, who responded by jerking the handle of the flyer to the side, throwing them both around roughly as the flyer struggled to turn so sharply. Hela swung the handle back again and hit the accelerator. The flyer shot higher into the air and began to fly over the water, leaving the palace far behind.

Nal leapt at Hela again, not bothering to use any fighting technique other than the most ancient of all: fists and nails.

Hela dodged her twice, but the third time Nal’s claws scratched Hela’s skin, leaving behind painful blisters that made Hela cry out in shock. The cold was so complete it instantly froze the water in Hela’s cells as it touched them, forcing them to burst. Hela summoned a sword and swung, but the blade shattered. Tiny shards hit Nal across the face, drawing blood that refused to fall as it froze solid the second it left her body. The flyer swung and twisted beneath them as they fought, each trying to kill the other with no thought of anything else.

Hela ducked back and found herself against the handle of the flyer. She slammed her hand into the controls, crippling it mid-flight. The flyer overturned in mid-air and tossed both of them out from up high. They were over a forest now, somewhere near where the mountains started. Hela let herself fall, rolling as she landed and coming up with a grin. Nal couldn’t survive a fall like that without injury, she was much more fragile than Hela and her ice-shaping abilities couldn’t help her if they had nothing to anchor to.

Nal hit the ground and it exploded beneath her into millions of pieces of dirty snow. She climbed her way out of the pit as the air froze around them both and the tree trunks began to explode from the sudden pressure of the frozen water beneath their bark.

The destruction was all around her, and still the cold came. Hela threw a series of knives only to watch helplessly as they shattered in mid-air. She threw another death wave and it froze halfway between them. Hela backed away and heard something snap. She looked down and saw the bottom half of her own leg frozen to the ground. It had snapped clean through the calf. She looked back up and held her hands out, trying to summon something, anything, that would make the cold stop.

Her arms froze in place, her skin split and burned away, her eyes exploded as the water in them froze fast. There was only the cold, and the pain, and no way to make it stop.

****

Nal could barely think. She was burning with cold. Her fury was beyond anything she’d ever felt before. She only wanted one thing and that was to destroy everything Hela was, and once the cold started flowing it felt impossible to stop. It poured out of her in all directions, destroying everything in its path. Trees exploded and ponds froze. The ground began to splinter as the water hardened and then shattered under her fury. The cold crept out further, reaching the edge of the wood and licking at the nearby woodcutter’s garden, killing his hard-won crops and splintering the fences.

Everything was cold, everything was fury, destruction was all there was left and it flowed through her so fast it took her breath away in a shriek so chilling that anyone left to hear it wanted to tear their own ears off, anything to make it stop.

Her sisters were calling in the back of her mind but she couldn’t hear them. They couldn’t reach her, there was only the cold and the burning, desperate, uncontrollable anger.

“Nal”

The cold reached the deep underground where the lava still sat in pools. It turned to stone and obsidian in an instant, and the change in temperature caused the ground to crack from the depths to the surface.

“Nal!”

There was snow everywhere, obscuring her vision, the wind was howling, the world was breaking, it was all coming down around her and there was only – 

“NAL!”

She blinked, and Loki was there at the edge of the clearing, clinging to the remains of a tree and fighting to reach her against the wind which was trying equally hard to keep them apart.

The wind dropped as the shock of seeing him hit her. The cold stopped its terrifying creep, and stared at him in confusion.

“Loki?”

Hela’s wave of death suddenly lurched forwards again as the temperature rose, and Loki launched himself at Nal, grabbing and teleporting them both away a second before it hit the spot where Nal had been standing.

Hela’s damaged body remained frozen in place as the heat of the sun slowly thawed out the area, melting the snow and returning the area back to summer.

****

Loki and Nal reappeared in the main hall of Castle Loki and tumbled to the floor. 

“You!” Nal yelled at him.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“You _died_ ,” Nal yelled, “I saw you do it! I saw you dead! You’re just like Hela! You can’t die!”

“Oh I can, and I do, fairly frequently actually,” Loki said, pulling off his dressing gown and offering it to her. Her clothes had frozen into pieces and shattered leaving her naked. “I can’t stay dead, there’s a subtle but distinct difference.”

Nal glared at him as she pulled on the dressing gown, but her teeth and nails had returned to normal and the frost around her eyes had melted away along with the worst of her anger.

“You. Talk. Now.” she demanded.

Loki looked nervous. “Well, it’s not that easy,” he said. 

The temperature began to drop.

“Alright! Wait, fine,” Loki said, “Hela can’t die, her soul is linked to her body so completely that you can stab her through the heart and she’ll just keep going like the undead while it heals and starts to beat again. Even if every cell of her body is destroyed she still cannot travel down the branches of Yggdrasil and reach Valhalla, maybe one day when she dies of old age, but it’ll be a while before I can test the theory.”

“And you don’t do that?” Nal asked.

Loki shook his head. “I die if you run me through the heart. I die if I get too badly hurt in any occasion, I die from poison, from head wounds, from too much heat, from too much cold. But I can’t stay that way. As soon as my body repairs I wind up back in it.”

“So… after all this time… you’re the God of Regeneration?” Nal asked.

Loki looked sheepish, “Not exactly,” he said, “Close. I… I…”

She saw the moment he gave in and decided to trust, not only her, but also her sisters, who were one hundred percent listening in, and had been from the moment they had tried to get her attention when she’d been fighting Hela.

“I’m the God of Ragnarok,” Loki said.

“What?”

_What?!_

_WHAT?!_

****

Out in the clearing the air warmed under the sun, and Hela’s fingers, of which only the bones were left, slowly began to twitch.

****

“What do you mean, the God of Ragnarok?” Nal asked.

“Well, you know the prophesy, the one that states that Asgard will fall when _some god_ puts Surtur’s crown in the Eternal Flame, causing him to appear in Asgard and grow to the size of a mountain?” Loki asked.

Nal nodded.

“That’s me. I’m the god. I am destined to one day bring about Ragnarok and destroy the whole of Asgard. I mean, I don’t _want_ to. I can’t imagine the state this place must be in for me to want to do something like that,” Loki continued, “But at some point it’s going to happen and when it does I’m going to be the one to do it.”

“How do you know?” Nal asked.

Loki shrugged. “I knew the moment I first set foot in the place. I came here determined to destroy it, and then I found out I was destined to do exactly that, but on Yggdrasil’s timeline, not mine.”

“You came here to destroy Asgard?” Nal asked.

Loki sighed and sat down in one of the overly-ornate chairs. “You have to understand. I was made in the middle of the Asgardian-Jotnir war. My mother created me to be the _perfect_ undercover agent. Pink like the enemy, clever, charming, witty, easy to like, magical, shape-changing, there was nothing she didn’t leave out if she thought it could help me. My purpose in life was to destroy Asgard and end the war with a Jotun victory. But then just as I was ready a peace was made when Bestla agreed to marry Bor. No one truly thought the peace would hold, at least, not the women. They thought it was only a matter of time before the Asgardian’s came back, replenished and armed even better than before. I travelled here to Asgard to complete my purpose and destroy them before they could do such a thing.”

“But?” Nal prompted.

Loki smiled wistfully. “But I fell in love,” he said. “The moment I saw this place I loved it more than anything I’d ever seen before, even if the mountains _were_ in the wrong place. Yggdrasil had no intention of allowing Asgard to be destroyed before it was time, so it took what my mother made and twisted it, turned me from an agent of Jotunheim to an agent of Yggdrasil. I know now that I must wait until the time is right, until the seer has been born and the great catastrophe, whatever it turns out to be, comes to pass.”

“So… you’re early?” Nal asked.

Loki nodded. “Very, I think. I’m quite old now, and Ragnarok is still nowhere in sight. Yggdrasil does what it can to guide us, it couldn’t undo what my mother did, so it changed it. The same way it made three of you from one child. It must need you three for something, so it changed what was available to become what it needed.”

Nal sat down in another chair. “No wonder you didn’t want people to know,” she said. “So Yggdrasil won’t let you stay dead until Ragnarok? Can you only be killed by Surtur?”

“Not even then,” Loki said. “Ragnarok is not pure destruction, the prophecy has two halves.”

“The rebirth,” Nal said.

Loki nodded. “The other Asgards. Once Ragnarok has begun I will travel with the seer to a new location that only he or she can find, there I will claim the new place and – somehow – reconnect the Well of Mimir to the new place, thus bringing the next Asgard into existence. Only then can I stay dead, only then can _I_ enter Valhalla… I hope.” 

“So you are waiting for this seer, and then for a catastrophe, and until then you are Asgard’s staunchest defender,” Nal said.

Loki nodded. 

“And your life-code?” Nal asked.

“You would have been able to tell,” Loki said, “Trust me.”

“I do,” Nal said, “Do you trust me?”

He blinked and reached for her. “I do,” he said softly.

_Sisters. Stay out._ Nal thought sternly.

_No problem,_ Daianya thought.

_I’ve got stuff to do anyway,_ Anima added.

Nal reached out to Loki and put her hand in his. He pulled her closer and his dressing gown, which had been loose on her anyway, slipped open as she slid onto his lap.

He kissed her and she pressed back, both of them finally giving in to what they had wanted for so long.

Loki felt like springtime. He felt almost overwhelming. Nal could taste every plant, animal and person he had ever encountered. His life code was not _stable_ , it was a whirling, twisting, ever-changing song inside her head. She could taste the places he’d been, the things he’d touched, eaten, or mated with. She could taste different soil and the microbes within them. She could taste _life._

He stood up, carrying her across the room and out into the hallway, up the stairs to the second floor and through to his bedroom.

“You deserve more than a table,” he breathed against her lips.

Nal pulled him close again, she didn’t care about that, she just wanted to taste all of him, every little twist and change, every part.

Beneath the chaos there was a structure, a framework on which his mother must have made him. It had his height and shape, his eyes and his hair, it had his cunning and his smile. But deeper still there was something else, something older and determined; Yggdrasil’s own twist. She could taste it too and it felt like power. 

Loki laid her down and pulled away his nightclothes, sliding his hands up her sides and moaning with pleasure at the feel of her skin beneath his fingers.

The moment she was ready she guided him inside her. Skin was fine for a taste, but she wanted to keep him forever. If would take a lifetime to sort through all he was, and that was just fine by her.

**** 

Hela managed to start moving on the third try. She was still missing the lower half of her leg, but she was able to crawl across the ground on broken arms. Half her bones were visible from where her flesh had been blasted away. Her face was skeletal to look at, although her eyes were just starting to recover and give her back her sight.

Loki had lived. She’s been almost lost in the pain of the cold, but she’d distinctly heard his voice calling out to Nal.

But the Death Flower poison was not survivable, not by normal people. That only left one explanation.

Loki was like her. Loki couldn’t die.


	20. A Dead Man Walking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to self: Kill more characters. 
> 
> I got triple the number of comments on that last chapter, which was nice because they fuel me.

She was closer to the edge than ever. All three pathways remained open to her, but she was rapidly reaching the point where they would start to close off. Odin still stood before her, his eyes were sad. As she watched, a tear began to fall from his right eye, although he was still smiling at her.

She stepped closer and the next tear turned red. There was snow on the ground at his feet as his eye was obscured by blood. Frigga thought of the healing spells she knew, trying to remember whether any of them could save an eye.

Pain hit her stomach and she couldn’t concentrate. She couldn’t fix this injury, something was stopping her from reaching him in that moment.

She pushed through, trying to get closer and closer so that she could help him, but it was impossible. The path she was on did not allow her.

She glanced to her right instinctively. The darkness was still there, lurking ominously, but for the first time she thought she could make out shapes within it. Shapes like people, people trying to run, people panicking, people trying to carry other people.

She heard screams, a hard cracking sound that made her duck her head and shut her eyes. Something very bad was coming, and she’d be close when she made her choice.

****

Frigga woke with a start. She was sitting in a chair by Odin’s bedside. She hadn’t meant to drift off but she’d been up all day reading to him with only a break for dinner, and then had come back to finish the story. It had been almost sunrise when she had finally succumbed to sleep. She looked over to where he lay and smiled fondly. He was not a perfect man; that much she could admit to herself, but he loved her and he tried hard to do what was right for his realm.

“When this war is over, you will be so busy,” she said softly, “But I hope you can still find a few minutes here and there to sit in the garden with me.”

He didn’t react – he couldn’t – but she sensed a calmness from him at her words. She knew he was aware of his surroundings when he was forced to sleep like this, she didn’t know if that meant all the time or if he was able to sleep within his sleep.

“I’m going to get another book to read to you,” she said and rose from her chair. Her throat was raspy from the night before, and as she passed through the healers wing she looked for someone who might be able to make her up a throat tonic. 

Eir was in early, frowning in concentration as she made rune stone after rune stone. Frigga felt a pang of guilt at how she’d abandoned her own work in the last few days. There was still a war on, and the Valkyrie would be shipping back out in a few days.

“Good morning,” Frigga said.

Eir looked up at her and frowned. “Your throat is hurting,” she said.

Frigga laughed, “I was going to ask if I could have a tonic,” she said.

Eir rose from her chair and walked over, holding out her hand. “Hold still,” she said.

Frigga felt a cool sensation in her throat and the ache disappeared. She smiled at Eir. “You’ve certainly embraced your godhood,” she said.

Eir shrugged. “Who am I to question Yggdrasil?” she asked. “I always dreamed of being exactly like this, and now I am!”

Frigga grinned and headed towards the door. “It’s good to see you happy and confident,” she said on her way out.

****

“And then there was the time I got knocked down a well. Head injury did most of the work, but then my neck snapped halfway down, plus my lungs started filling with water when I hit the bottom. I woke about three times under the water and kept dying again before I managed to get high enough to cough up some of it and get air back into my lungs. Then I had to climb out,” Loki said.

He and Nal were lying side by side in his bed, bodies pressed together as the afternoon sun shone across their skin through the open window.

“You kept dying?” Nal questioned.

“I did say I wasn’t like Hela. She can make her body keep moving even when the vital functions have ceased. I can’t. I keep coming back and fighting to stay. I mean, if I stayed down there eventually I’d decompose so much that bits of me would enter the groundwater and get sucked back up through the root system of the nearby plants… or slowly drained out to sea, either way I do always come back eventually,” Loki said.

“Have you actually been so decomposed that you entered groundwater or are you just assuming?” Nal asked.

Loki gave a kind of half shrug. “About eight centuries ago I disappeared for a while, told everyone I’d gone travelling, but… no… I was mud,” He said. “I woke back up lying next to the tree that pulled me out of the ground along with all the other nutrients.”

“Have you ever been in a situation you couldn’t resurrect from?” Nal asked. “Did you have to be rescued or have you always just waited it out?”

Loki tilted his head in thought. “Do you remember the giant snake that Anima and I found deep in the heart of Asgard?”

“Yes.”

“It ate me, its stomach acid dissolved me, and then I woke up in Odin’s bedroom on the floor next to my apple which he said he took from the beast’s stomach after it died. I _think_ a few of my cells were still attached to the apple and I reformed from that. That’s probably the closest I’ve ever come to being unable to resurrect, but even then I’m pretty sure once the snake’s body broke down enough for the acid to neutralise I’d have popped back up.”

Nal ran a lazy hand down his chest and stomach. His code was inside of her now, a part of her, left behind after their lovemaking, but she still liked the way he felt through her skin, an ever changing kaleidoscope.

“All your children are so different, and now I know why,” she said.

“I don’t have any control over the masculine part of me, it mutates at will,” Loki said, “Sleipnir is the only child I actually built, and he’s wonderful.”

“And not a monster,” Nal said.

Loki nodded. “Jormungandr’s okay, still violent and prone to wholesale destruction, but he loves his daddy. Fenrir is more violent still, I hear he’s doing terrible things out on the battlefields right now, and Hela is…”

“She’s the real monster, at least the others have the excuse of being animals,” Nal said. “Not that I can talk, I’m no better.”

“You are a million times better,” Loki said, looking down into her eyes.

“I’m not sure if you noticed, but I blew away an entire section of forest, exploded trees, broke the ground, broke the lava deep beneath the ground, and I’m not entirely certain that I was going to stop even after Hela was frozen chunks,” Nal said, looking worried. “It almost had me, the cold, it almost took over. If you hadn’t shocked me so badly by being alive I don’t think I would have stopped until the whole of Asgard was a frozen wasteland.”

“Well we all have bad days,” Loki said. “Losing me is pretty traumatic. I should know, I’ve lost me heaps of times, and in the beginning it really used to piss me off.”

Nal sat up and glared at him. “I know being flippant is in your nature,” she said, “But this is serious. That major catastrophe you’ve been waiting for? I could have caused it right then.”

Loki’s face turned serious. “I honestly don’t believe that you would have,” he said. “You are not the only person on Asgard capable of causing untold destruction, but I believe that you have more control than that. You would have remembered your sisters, or the innocent people, you would have come back from your anger. I believe that with all my heart.”

Nal sighed and flopped back down beside him. “I wish I did,” she said.

“I’ll believe it for you until you do,” Loki said.

**** 

Thrym was inspecting the infantry weapon’s store, a tasks he did on no fixed schedule so as to be sure that they were always well-maintained and not just hastily repaired for his benefit, when he heard conversation from the next room.

“He is mad though, look at how he is with the Vanir woman.”

“You know you’d do the same for a chance in her bed.”

“I wouldn’t change policy for her, and that’s what’s happening. Laufey tells her which brother needs a place and she works her magic behind closed doors, suddenly that brother has a place.”

“I wish she’d get me a place. I hate guard duty.”

“But will it even be worth it? A mad king or an Asgardian raised queen? Both aren’t exactly great options.”

“If I had to choose I’d take the queen, she’s stable, as far as we know, and she might… y’know, be open to a little wooing.”

“I doubt it, if one of the others wouldn’t take you I doubt she will. She’ll hold court and invite stronger visitors up to her chamber, and we’ll both stay right here on guard duty.”

“You don’t know that. Proximity is a great help. Guard her chambers, get to talking. I can be quite charming when I’m not competing with every other man in the room.”

“I have to trust that Laufey knows what he’s doing, he always has before, except for that one notable time when he ended up being Grundroth’s _most hated slave_.”

“That was an anomaly, Laufey was always the clever one, and he still is, Grundroth will die sooner than he thinks, the Asgardian raised queen will pardon Laufey because she’s not insane, and the sons of Morag will be powerful players in the Jotnir Court… and you will still be on guard duty.”

“So will you, you were born to be a guard, used to guard the nursery for Mother.”

“Yes I did, and I was good at it, and loyal too.”

Thrym slowly backed away from the window he’d been listening through, heart pounding from the information he’d heard. He turned and headed straight out of the weapons store toward, not the royal offices, but to the laundry where Laufey would be hard at work cleaning and oiling the furs of the court to prevent the cold from destroying them.

He barged in loudly and stormed over to where Laufey sat, trying to get semen stains out of the king’s underwear with a look of disgust on his face.

“You traitor,” Thrym hissed, making Laufey look up in alarm.

“I’ve been called worse, but never by you,” Laufey said.

“I heard your brothers talking, you plan to kill the king,” Thrym said.

Laufey immediately looked confused. “It’s not exactly a secret that I don’t like him, but he’s the king, murder is frowned upon under regular circumstances, killing _the king_ is not going to win my freedom,” he said.

Thrym shook his head. “I know what I heard, Laufey, I know you are moving your brothers around like playing pieces in a game and I know the Vanir woman is helping you.”

Laufey just shook his head. “I hope you will forgive me, General, but the Vanir woman has never even spoken to me, I am…” He gestured around himself at the grime and the harshness of the laundry. “Not worthy of notice,” he finished.

Thrym frowned as he looked down into Laufey’s honest expression. It did sound rather ridiculous, but then again Laufey had been on a rapid rise through the court for his intelligence and skill prior to Grundroth deciding to throw him back down.

“I know what I heard,” Thrym said again, trying not to sound uncertain.

“Which of my brothers did you hear?” Laufey asked. “Was it Ryat? He likes to make up stories, Mother made him to be an entertainer, although if it was then someone needs to warn him not to make up such _dangerous_ stories. I’m already on the lowest rung of the ladder; I really don’t want to be pushed off entirely.”

Thrym straitened. “I really wanted to see you gain your freedom, Laufey, but treason cannot be allowed to stand,” he said.

“If you truly believed what you’d heard, you would have gone straight to Grundroth and not to me,” Laufey said. “I can’t pretend that my life wouldn’t be better once Grundroth is gone, and Nal as queen could very well work in my favour, but I’m not the only one that applies to, am I? There are others Grundroth has punished – not quite like me – but enough like me to want him gone sooner than time will permit. Another theory, if you will, my name is already dirt, what is the harm of using it as a codename for someone else’s plotting? If anything gets overheard, well…” he trailed off again, letting Thrym finish the thought himself.

“I will investigate this, Laufey,” Thrym said, “And if you are plotting against the king then any help I ever thought to offer you is forfeit.”

“As is should be, but I’m just waiting out my time, General, I swear it,” Laufey said.

Thrym turned away and headed back into the palace. He had to find the owners of the voices. He didn’t doubt they were Morag sons, they were still the most numerous in the court and not all of them were finding favour with Grundroth. He hurried back to the barracks, intent on finding Groupr to share his knowledge with.

Laufey had a point, several in fact. He could very well be planning an assassination and a coup, but with the Vanir woman? Why would she help him? He had nothing to offer her. Certainly he had enough brothers in positions of power, but was he really relying on Nal to reward him for giving her a throne she didn’t want?

He reached the barracks and spoke to the nearest guard. “Fetch Commander Groupr,” he said. 

The guard nodded and hurried away to find the Commander. Thrym sat down in his chair and tried to get his thoughts in order.

The blade went straight through his heart from behind. He barely had time to realise what had happened before his soul was free, flying upwards and along the branches of Yggdrasil to the Great Spirit Hall of the Jotnir.

Five minutes later when Group walked in he and the guard both jolted to a halt in shock at the sight of Thrym slumped dead over his desk.

“Murder!”

****

Hela was still regrowing the flesh on her extremities when she arrived back at the palace. She’d had to take a farmer’s horse and ride to the nearest village, then commandeer the only transport they had to get as far as the nearest town, _then_ make the mail delivery transport into the main city, before finally storming her way up the main street to the palace gates.

The guard on the gate yelped at the sight of her and almost held out his spear before realising who she was and how dumb a move that would be. He pulled the gate open instead and gave her a trembling salute of acknowledgement, which she ignored.

She entered the private area and stomped her way up the stairs to the second floor where Bor kept his office.

She almost barged her way in, but remembered just in time that Bor would not appreciate such a thing, and instead knocked as calmly as she could manage.

His secretary opened the door and let out a sharp scream of fear before fainting. Hela stepped over him.

Bor, to his credit, only blinked in surprise. “What happened to your face?” he asked.

“Nal burned it off,” Hela said through lips that were still not fully reformed.

“She did what?” Bor asked. “I knew she was powerful,” he said to himself. “I wonder what it would take to get her out on the battlefield, she’s never shown an interest in it before but with the right motivation – ”

“Loki is alive,” Hela said.

“What?” Bor said. “You said you knew what you were doing.”

“I did, and it was perfect. I watched him die, I _felt_ him die. But then Nal caught me and we fought and she burned half my flesh off with her bloody Jotun magic, and then Loki showed up and stopped her from destroying everything. He’s like me, he can’t die,” Hela said.

Bor stood up abruptly. “Are you _certain_ , Hela, truly certain?” he asked.

Hela nodded, her eyelids were finally starting to get thick enough to blink properly, “I am,” she said. “It was his voice, Nal said his name, he died but then he came back.”

“What you do is not normal,” Bor said. “No god has ever had this power before and now we find out there’s a second one. What kind of god is he then?”

“An annoying one,” Hela said, “Although that explains why so many of my previous attempts didn’t work. I _knew_ he couldn’t survive falling into that well.”

Bor glanced up at her briefly. “Where is he now?”

Hela shrugged, “Off with Nal, they left together, probably teleported because I didn’t see any footprints in the snow when I got my eyes back,” she said.

“I need to visit the seers at the Well of Mimir,” Bor said, “I must have answers.”

“Is Father still sleeping?” Hela asked.

Bor hesitated for a second. “Yes,” he said, sounding annoyed, “But this can’t wait, not after such a blatant attempt. If it had just been Loki I would wait for Odin to wake, but you said Nal saw what you did, she will tell others and then I will have to punish you for trying to murder someone, even if it is Loki. If I can get the answers to what he is before they get back then there is a chance I can stop the fallout.”

Hela shrugged and almost dislocated her still-exposed shoulder bone. “Is Nal really that valuable?” she asked.

Bor gave her a stern look. “Loki I want gone, I will not tolerate murdering members of the court just because they saw something inconvenient. It’s your fault anyway for getting caught.”

“How was I supposed to know she planned to eat breakfast with him? Does she do that often?” Hela asked.

Bor shook his head dismissively. “How should I know,” he said. “You should have been more careful.”

He picked up Gungnir and headed out the door and to the main hall. Hela followed him down until he came across the nearest group of senior nobles. “I’m going on a pilgrimage,” he said to them. “It can’t wait, and Odin is still sleeping, so Hela will mind the throne until I get back.”

Every single one of them looked up at her blistered and burnt face with fear in their eyes. 

“There are no plans that need to be executed; the courts can be suspended until I get back. It should be a quiet night, just have the feast and wait for my return in the morning,” Bor said.

He handed Gungnir to Hela. “Don’t mess this up,” he said quietly to her.

She gripped it tightly and nodded. “I won’t, your Majesty,” she said.

Bor nodded to the nobles and walked away, leaving them alone with Hela, who grinned at them with blistered lips.


	21. The Day's End

Commander Lomax knocked on the door of the Standing Proud impatiently. It was still the afternoon and the place wasn’t scheduled to open until the sun was setting, but he knew Lord Elbin would already be there, preparing for his meeting tonight.

The door opened a crack and the owner looked out. When he saw who it was he opened the door fully and gave Commander Lomax a nod as he let him inside.

“His lordship is in the back,” he said.

Commander Lomax nodded and hurried through.

Lord Elbin looked up in surprise as he saw Commander Lomax, “You’re early, what’s happened?” he asked.

“King Bor has gone to see the seers at the Well of Mimir,” Commander Lomax said. “He’s left Hela in charge.”

Lord Elbin blinked. “Hela? Hela?!”

“Prince Odin is in Odinsleep and she is technically the next in line,” Commander Lomax said with a slight sneer. “She’s not supposed to do anything other than sit on the throne and wait for him to return, but I thought you ought to know anyway, in case something happens,” Commander Lomax said.

Lord Elbin nodded. “Indeed, last time our King left the Jotun in charge and there was a major attack that she had command over, we have to hope that doesn’t happen with Hela.”

“But this may also be a good thing,” Commander Lomax said. “Prince Odin is sleeping, King Bor is away, the princesses are all in the palace. This might be a good omen for our plans tonight.”

Lord Elbin smiled. “You are right, we can claim this as a sign of Yggdrasil’s approval of our plans. Have you established the, uh, sacrifices to our cause?”

Commander Lomax pulled out a piece of paper with names written on them. “The less capable of the movement,” he said, “They have been instructed not to attend tonight’s meeting, and that those who are going will tell them what was said and what they ought to do. They will be inside the palace when the spell is cast, and they won’t be missed.”

Lord Elbin took the paper and nodded. “Tonight’s meeting is far too big for the Standing Proud, we’re seeing everyone at my residence, although I normally loath using my own places as it attracts interest from parties I would rather avoid. Afterwards a few select members of the movement will see me here for their personal assignments.”

Commander Lomax glanced at the paper Lord Elbin was working on. “Do I have an assignment?” he asked.

Lord Elbin nodded. “I am sending you up to the Princess Tower to kill the mortal and, if she is there, Daianya. She may be with the other Valkyrie though, I am not certain.”

“Not Nal?” Commander Lomax asked.

“No. The Jotun bitch has a different fate,” Lord Elbin said, “That cuff you brought me? Well in order to work it must be tied to someone’s life. There was blood on it – Eitri’s, I believe – but it was mostly rubbed away by the dirt and later hands trying to clean up the surface to see what it was. The sorcerer’s have cleaned it properly now and it’s ready to be used by someone else.”

“You want to tie it to Nal’s life?” Commander Lomax asked, surprised.

“Well I’m hardly going to tie it to my own,” Lord Elbin said with a smug smile. “She’s too powerful, we’ve all seen it, but this spell will cripple her, an endless, continuous drain on her spirit for the rest of her life. She will be a shadow of herself, weak and helpless. King Bor will not want a Jotun on the throne anyway, but a weak Jotun? She will be hidden away forever, like weak royals of the past, and she will suffer, which I must admit is a personal desire of mine.”

Commander Lomax looked thoughtful. “Do Jotnir bleed? I thought they were too cold,” he said.

“You know that pendant she wears around her neck? The red stone that hangs from it is a Jotun tear, perfect for our purposes. You will kill the other two, take the tear and bring it to Hela’s rooms, where the other team will smash it against the cuff and then banish Hela forever. Jotun live a long time, by the time Nal dies and Hela is freed, Asgard’s royal family will already have moved on, and our people will be ready for her return with a new trap from Eitri.”

“You are certain he’ll make us one?” Commander Lomax asked.

“He wants peace, he’ll get it after tonight. In a few centuries no one will even remember this little war we’ve had, and of course he hates Hela. He will make us something better because it will be for the good of the nine realms, we just have to remind ourselves to ask him when the time comes,” Lord Elbin said confidently. 

****

Loki and Nal appeared in his rooms in the palace. He immediately headed for a cupboard and pulled out his breakfast tray. “I couldn’t risk the servants coming to clear it away and accidently touching that poison,” he said by way of explanation. 

Nal nodded. “Sensible,” she said.

“Don’t tell anyone, I have a reputation for the exact opposite,” Loki said and carried the tray towards the door. “I’ll make sure this is destroyed.”

“I’m going to my room to put on something that actually fits me,” Nal said.

She was wearing his dressing gown again.

“Do you plan to walk through the palace like that?” Loki asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“Would you rather I don’t?” Nal asked him seriously.

“My princess, I’d like to wear a banner with my intentions written in bold letters right across the front, but only if you approve,” Loki replied.

Nal shrugged. “I know the king is going to be very unhappy, and Father too, let’s be honest, but if either of them had bothered to pay attention these last fifty years then it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise, so I’m walking back to my rooms in your dressing gown, and they’re just going to have to deal with it.”

She walked out the door with her head high, not looking back.

Loki grinned at her until she disappeared from view. “I love that woman,” he said to himself, and headed down to the incinerators, cold and deadly breakfast in hand.

****

Nal did not pass anyone on her way to her rooms which vaguely disappointed her. A part of her was spoiling for the fight that was to come, and she wanted to get it over with.

Would Bor banish her? Maybe, he hated Loki a lot. But did he hate him more than he needed her? Also maybe, but Father had promised her decades ago that she would always have a home in Asgard, so even if he wasn’t happy he should still fight for her if he had any honour at all.

Nal pulled on a sturdy gown of grey and tied the sash perfectly into place. She made sure her hair was smooth and pinned with no stray flyaways, and carefully added a small amount of subtle makeup. There was more than one type of war in the universe, and she dressed herself for battle.

_Heads up, the King has left the palace to visit the Well of Mimir and he’s left Hela in charge,_ Daianya thought.

Nal drew in a slow breath of annoyance. _I was hoping she’d be indisposed for a bit longer,_ she thought.

She made her way downstairs and to the Great Hall, where Hela sat upon the throne as though it already belonged to her.

She saw Nal standing there and smiled a fake smile. “Nal, so good to see you,” she said, “Feeling better?”

Nal walked the length of the room slowly, taking her time. She passed through the icy spot in the centre without reacting, and eventually came to a stop in front of the steps leading up to the throne.

“Hela, you look well,” she said.

Hela’s lips had returned although they were still red and raw to look at, cold burns were scattered across her cheeks and forehead which were still healing, and the tip of her nose was still missing. “I am well,” she said in spite of that, “I am feeling quite happy all things considered.”

Nal kept her thoughts to herself. There was no way for Hela to know what she and Loki had spent the afternoon doing, but her open happiness clearly meant something had happened that was almost certainly bad for Nal.

“I heard that our king has gone on a pilgrimage, I do hope everything is alright?” Nal asked.

Hela grinned almost manically. “He’s gone to seek the kind of answers that will help change Asgard forever,” she said, “You will understand one day, or maybe not, Jotun brains are so slow you may never grasp the true challenges of ruling.”

Nal walked away from her, rolling her eyes. Hela was just… the worst.

She wandered up to the healer’s wing, supposedly to check on her father, but actually to see if there was any chance he’d wake up sooner than they thought. Hela was only on the throne because she was the eldest conscious family member. What was Bor thinking leaving in the middle of Odin’s sleep?

“How is he?” she asked, stepping into the room.

Frigga paused in her reading. “No change,” she said and took a moment to swallow from a bottle at her side.

“He’s been out for over a day now,” Nal said.

“He was very worn down,” Frigga said. “I wish he could give us a sign that he was well.”

“I’d like to talk to him for a minute,” Nal said.

Frigga nodded and left them alone.

Nal sat awkwardly at Odin’s side and looked at him through the golden light that encased him. “I don’t know if anyone told you,” she said to him, “But Hela is in charge at the moment because the king decided to go and visit the Well of Mimir. He didn’t say why, apparently. Hela is acting like she knows, but she might be bluffing. Nothing else is going on that we know about, other than, well, I have something I need to talk to you about, when you can talk back.”

She looked out of the window. The sun was low in the sky and the nightly feast would begin soon. 

“Do you remember when I visited Jotunheim?” She said, “And we stood on the Bifrost and I asked you to promise me that I’d always have a home in Asgard? You swore I would; that’s the only reason I agreed to leave. I know I’m not like everyone else. I know I stand out and I don’t always act the way other people do, but this is my home, I never want to live anywhere else.”

She looked back at his still form, wishing she could truly say what was on her mind.

Father, I broke the forest, part of it anyway. I blew up trees and froze the ground until it cracked from the strain, and a bunch of plants and animals who couldn’t get away died, and I almost didn’t stop except that Loki found me. I’m scared that this feeling growing inside me will take me over one day and I’ll really hurt people, I’m scared I’m a monster no better than Hela who, even though you insist on not giving up on her, is in fact a terrible creature who cannot be trusted and will one day turn on us all. But if you refuse to give up on her, can I have the same amount of grace? Will you let me stay and try to be better even when I destroy things so badly anyone else would be facing the king’s justice right now? Will you love me as much as you love her? 

That was what she _wanted_ to say. Regardless of Loki’s confidence in her, Nal was not confident in herself.

“We’ll speak when you wake up,” she said, rising from her chair. “You’ll be alright soon.”

She left the room without looking back. If Bor banished Loki for what she and he had done then she would go with him out to the stars without question, but she didn’t want to unless she had to. Surely her own father would be on her side?

****

The feast was undeniably tense that night. Hela sat in the king’s chair and gazed with glee down at the court, who ate in a subdued manner let they catch her attention. Daianya and Tarah ate quietly together and left quickly, Anima barely touched her food because her nose was still buried in a book, and Nal didn’t bother to go at all.

Instead she and Loki ate in his rooms, and only after Loki tested everything for poison.

“Hela does concern me,” he said. “She is not careful with her kills, she almost hit Anima once years ago when aiming at me and I had to be very firm with her.”

“She worries me,” Nal said. “I swear she’s growing more unstable by the minute. I can’t explain why I feel that way, only that when she’s in front of me I feel an urge to try and kill her first.”

“Not an uncommon feeling in the presence of Hela, maybe Eitri will pull it off,” Loki said.

Nal bit her lip. “She’s not going to forget what I did to her,” she said.

“No, but she won’t be here for long, as long as the war lasts she will be needed out there on the battlefields,” Loki said.

Nal nodded slowly. “The first of the Valkyrie are shipping out tomorrow at midday. Daianya is going with them, Tarah isn’t.”

“How’s Anima’s research coming along?” Loki asked.

“Slowly, and she’s frustrated by it, and pushing herself into late nights and skipped meals,” Nal said. “In fact I should probably go and make sure she gets some rest tonight. If they Valkyrie are leaving then the store of rune-stones will go with them, Anima will be needed to help replenish supplies, her research will have to go on hold for a while.”

Loki nodded. “Will you be coming back here when you’re done?” he asked her.

“I was planning to,” she said, giving him a gentle smile.

“I’m going to make you laugh one day,” Loki said. “I’ve never heard you laugh.”

Nal rolled her eyes. “It probably sounds just like Anima’s, go and listen to that,” she said.

“No, I think I’d just rather find something you think is worth laughing at,” Loki said.

****

They were almost finished with dessert when the alarm sounded for the leaders of Asgard to assemble in the Great Hall. They exchanged worried glances and hurried down as fast as they could.

Hela was sitting back on the throne as they came in, looking serious as a warrior sent from the field was nervously delivering his message.

“Eitri’s army is planning to take the field again, this time in the Vinos system. The fall of the blockade means that he is trying to get at our shipping another way,” he said. “We managed to obtain plans for a full scale attack to drive our men back. The attack shall begin tomorrow at dusk, our time.”

“We need to divert the Valkyrie to defend it,” General Solveig said at once. “They’re rested and ready, I will tell them tonight to be prepared for an immediate engagement.”

Hela nodded. 

“Will you take the field, your Grace?” General Hymir asked her.

“I cannot if the King’s away,” Hela said.

Nal frowned slightly, “Does she sound relieved?” she whispered to Loki.

“We should send a messenger to him at once so he knows what is going on,” General Hymir said.

“I’ll go,” Loki piped up. “I can teleport fairly close to the entrance to the Well and hike the rest of the way, if he’s only gone as far as the seers then we can be back by dawn.”

Hela looked annoyed. “Wait,” she started to say but Loki vanished in a flash of light.

Nal looked back at her, she was not wrong, Hela definitely looked concerned with the idea of going back into battle.

_Battle? Or battle with Eitri?_ She thought.

_That weapon he has will destroy her forever,_ Daianya thought. _I don’t blame her for being worried._

_That would solve a lot more problems than it causes,_ Anima added. _You’ll be there too, to get the weapon once it’s done, assuming Eitri takes the field of course._

_If Hela’s presence is known, he’ll take the field,_ Daianya thought. 

Nal walked away from the group still discussing strategy. She had little to do with the actual warfare part of the war, and the Valkyrie were already well equipped given that they had been planning to ship out tomorrow anyway.

_I hope the king makes it back in time,_ she thought, _Otherwise Hela will be staying right here._


	22. It's Raining Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To my two dear constant reviewers. I hope you don't mind.

Tyr dressed as quietly as he could and carefully opened the window. His father had only just returned to their house after being called in for an emergency meeting regarding new developments in the war and Tyr could hear him getting ready for bed.

It was frustrating because Lord Elbin had apparently called an emergency meeting _at his residence_ , and with all the main leaders in the True Men’s Alliance. Tyr had not been invited but Commander Lomax always brought him to every other meeting, and he was sure that this one would be no different.

Except it had been; the Commander had left right after the feast while Tyr was still under the eye of his father. Tyr had given an excuse of being tired in order to get away but the Commander was already gone by the time he’d gotten back to the houses.

The meeting would already be starting by now, otherwise Tyr would have waited until he was sure his father was asleep before sneaking out.

He climbed carefully out of the window and down the branches of the nearest tree. The light in his father’s room went out as he snuck to the nearest palace gate.

Two Valkyrie were on guard duty, Tyr vaguely recognised them as Marlies and Güfi, two of the harder to fool Valkyrie, and he cursed under his breath. They would absolutely report him to his father in the morning.

He turned and made his way quickly to the next closest gate, which was manned by two warriors and members of the Alliance. Tyr gave them a nod as he walked on through. They returned it and let him through without a challenge.

Running really late now, he sprinted down the streets of the city, grateful that Lord Elbin’s residence wasn’t as far as the Standing Proud.

He reached the front and knocked at the door. It was opened by another member of the Alliance and one of Lord Elbin’s most trusted servants.

“Your business?” he asked.

“True Men’s business,” Tyr said.

The man looked him over suspiciously, which annoyed him. Tyr was the son of a General, this man was a servant, but right now he held all the power.

“Not tonight, boy, go home and wait for orders,” he said and shut the door.

Tyr stood there with his mouth open in shock. How dare he? But he had, and now Tyr was locked out.

Undeterred, and making a mental note to tell Commander Lomax about this insult the next time he saw him, Tyr snuck around the side of the manor house and through the gardens. He peeked in through any window that was lit up until, towards the rear of the property, he found the hall where the True Men had gathered.

He pulled his knife from his belt and carefully worked it under the closed window sill. Knocking would undoubtedly let him in, but Lord Elbin was speaking quite animatedly and Tyr didn’t want to spoil it.

He managed to get the window open a crack and the sound filtered out.

“We will never get an opportunity like this again! Yggdrasil smiles upon us and all we do! Our King is away, our Prince is in Odinsleep – a very noble sacrifice that he makes to restore his great power! – We must strike tonight, are you with me?!” Lord Elbin intoned.

Tyr frowned in curiosity, strike? Who were they striking?

The men in the room gave a loud cheer and Tyr instinctively looked over his shoulder in case the neighbours could hear them, but Lord Elbin’s gardens were vast enough to prevent the sound carrying that far.

“We will be silent heroes,” Lord Elbin said. “While the rest of you go about your business, our special strike teams will take up their targets. The mortal, of course, is nearing the end of her life so hastening it a little is hardly a crime, and Hela, well, we can deal with her now.”

He held up a golden cuff. “This device will banish her for a lifetime, long enough for Asgard to move on and Odin to father princes, long enough to remove her from the line of succession!”

Another cheer, one tinged with hope and relief in equal measure. 

“It must be activated with the blood of the one who shall share their life forever with the spell. I know some of you are uncomfortable with the idea of killing the princesses, so you should feel relieved at what I am about to tell you. Princess Nal shall make that sacrifice. Her blood shall be placed on the cuff before it is affixed to Hela. She will live a natural life, but she will be badly weakened and helpless, no longer a threat to Asgard and to us!”

More cheers. Tyr breathed in the excitement. They were really going to do it; they were going to make a stand against Hela. Even his father couldn’t disagree that it needed to be done, _everyone_ knew Hela was too dangerous to be allowed to rule.

“After tonight you must immediately return to the barracks, wash yourselves and collect your clothing into the bags provided, we will take them back here to be disposed of. There must be no evidence linking us to what has happened,” Lord Elbin said. “What we do is for the good of Asgard, and that includes breaking the laws, but if we get caught, if _any_ of us gets caught, then all of us fail. That is why only you, the most trusted, the best of us, were invited here tonight.”

Tyr felt a sting of annoyance. He was one of the best, surely? He watched all the speeches, he went to all the meetings, he believed in the movement with his whole heart! Well, most of his heart, maybe not where healers were concerned, or gods, gods were different to regular women anyway, so of course they were exempt.

Anima was a god, and they were going to kill her.

Tyr frowned at his thoughts. She was _mortal_ , Lord Elbin was right, she couldn’t be meant to live that much longer anyway, and Tyr’s own father had taught him about seizing opportunities when they came otherwise you might miss them.

Still, murder felt rather extreme.

It was just _one_ murder, and in exchange they would be rid of Hela forever.

Tyr crept away from the window and went searching further along. At the Standing Proud, Lord Elbin always finished the meetings by going into his office in the back along with the highest members of the organisation. Commander Lomax would always look across at Tyr and tell him ‘one day’ as he left to join the Lord. No doubt something similar would happen tonight and Tyr wanted to prove himself trustworthy. He’d wait for Lord Elbin in his office and offer to be on one of the strike teams, maybe the one that banished Hela, that had to be the most important one, that was the whole point of the night after all.

He did find an office near to the hall. A little work with his knife and the window popped open. Shaking his head at the lax security, Tyr climbed in and brushed himself off, wondering how long he would have to wait.

There was a paper on the desk with names on it, both the princesses and members of the Alliance. Tyr blinked in surprise. The strike teams! He read down the list with interest.

There were more names than he’d thought.

A lot more.

All the princesses were on there, even Daianya.

Lady Frigga was on there, and Tyr couldn’t think what she’d done to be targeted.

The head healer, Inge was on there.

Several prominent lords and ladies were on there.

 _General Hymir was on there._

Tyr gasped in horror. No, it had to be a mistake. His father was a great man, a great general, he was the epitome of a True Man…

… except that he opposed the Alliance. All of these people opposed the Alliance, publically. This was not for the good of Asgard, it was for the good of the True Men and Lord Elbin.

The last line on the list just said The Valkyrie – Everyone Else.

Tyr shook his head. That was insane. Not _the entire Valkyrie_. Not in the middle of a war when they were needed. The movement was supposed to encourage women to follow womanly pursuits, not kill them for being fighters.

Tyr heard the sound of footsteps in the hall and jumped out of the window. He leapt up and pulled it shut before ducking out of sight.

Two guards came in at a run; Tyr must have tripped some kind of security system after all. He stayed low and crawled through the gardens back to the hall window. Lord Elbin was still speaking.

“We strike at midnight, when Princess Anima is sleeping and cannot prevent our sorcerers from casting their spell,” he said, looking over at the clock. It was thirty minutes to, “Remain outside the palace until then, otherwise you will be caught in the spell and useless to us. Once the spell has been cast, we move in and begin.”

Tyr fled. He stayed as quiet as he could until he was safely away from the grounds before breaking into a sprint to get back to the palace. A spell, a spell to render everyone helpless, it had to be, otherwise they’d never get away with slaughtering all the Valkyrie.

The best person to deal with spells was Princess Anima, and there wasn’t much time.

Tyr’s lungs were heaving as he ran through the nearest gate, ignoring the challenge called out by Marlies. He could hear her reporting his sudden arrival through the communication system as he ran into the palace.

It was late, Princess Anima had to be in her room in the Princess Tower by now, right? But Tyr didn’t have the right access to reach that part of the palace.

Horror bloomed in his chest a split second before Marlies slammed him off his feet and tackled him to the ground.

“In the name of the King, you are – oh Tyr it’s you. Why are you running around in the middle of the night?” she asked as Güfi jogged up, speaking into a communicator.

“It’s Tyr, General Hymir’s son, he’s out of breath and in a panic but it’s not an intruder,” she said, “Stand down.”

“Do not stand down!” Tyr gasped. “There’s a plot… tonight… they’re coming… please… Anima… please… she has to be told…”

They looked at him with identical frowns on their faces. 

“Please!” he begged.

Marlies glanced back at Güfi and nodded. “Call Daianya, ask her to wake her sister.”

Güfi began to do so as Marlies looked down at Tyr desperately fighting for breath on the ground. “This had better be _very_ good,” she said.

“They’ll meet us in the Great Hall,” Güfi said.

Tyr pulled a face. It was almost midnight, there was so little time!

“Tell them to hurry,” he gasped. “The attack is imminent!”

They escorted him to the Great Hall while giving him suspicious glances the whole time. Tyr didn’t care. He thought he knew the right way for things to work, but if Lord Elbin had to kill a man like Tyr’s father to have his way, then his way was wrong. And the healers _did_ know what they were doing under Inge, Tyr had seen it for himself. 

They entered the Great Hall and all three of them stopped in a rush. Hela was still sitting on the throne, flanked by two guards. Despite the late hour she was still awake, still holding Gungnir, and staring blankly out across the empty space. At the sound of their footsteps she turned her head to look at them.

Tyr gulped. In the dim lighting she looked truly terrifying, like something out of his worst nightmares.

Then the door opened on the other side of the throne and Daianya, Nal and Anima all walked in, looking rumpled from climbing out of bed.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Anima asked him, sounding a little annoyed.

“The True Men’s Alliance is going to attack the palace tonight,” Tyr said. “They’re going to kill a large number of important people, including two of you, and all the Valkyrie.”

“They can try,” muttered Marlies.

“They’re going to use a spell, I don’t know what it does but they’re going to do it soon because it’s late and Princess Anima can’t stop spells if she’s asleep,” Tyr said, “Right? Because you have to see them coming? That’s what Lord Elbin said.”

Anima immediately looked more alert. “That’s not common knowledge, or at least I didn’t think it was,” she said.

Hela rose from her throne. “How many?” she asked.

“About a thousand,” Tyr said. “They have specialised teams too, for the individual killings. It’s all planned out, it – ”

The guards who had been flanking Hela moved suddenly, one of them threw his spear at Tyr, the other at Anima.

Güfi caught the spear a second before it pierced Tyr’s chest. The spear heading for Anima vanished and reappeared, still travelling at speed, behind the man who’d thrown it. He went down with a cry of pain as it speared his chest, which was still a better fate than what happened to the first man, because Hela stabbed him rapidly with a knife until his torso looked like a pincushion.

Anima made a movement with her hands and a dome of golden light encased them all. “No more surprises,” she said.

“Where did you hear about this?” Nal asked Tyr.

“Lord Elbin’s residence, I was sneaking around outside,” Tyr said.

“Why?” Nal asked.

Tyr looked at his feet. “Because they wouldn’t let me in the door,” he admitted. “I was one of them, except I’m not, because I would never murder people! Lord Elbin has gone insane!”

“I suspect he was always a little insane,” Daianya said as Nal nodded.

A flash of light passed through the Great Hall. It crackled when it hit Anima’s bubble and flowed around it, leaving those inside untouched.

“They’re here,” Tyr said. “They’re going to kill my father! His name was on the list!”

“That was a sleeping spell, a very powerful one,” Anima said. 

“Can you lift it?” Nal asked.

Anima tilted her head. “Not quickly. They’ve layered it several times over. I could blast it apart but that might harm anyone it is cast upon. I need time.”

“They’ll be heading for the barracks,” Daianya said. “If we’re the only people left awake in the palace then we can’t hold back a thousand men – ”

“Maybe you can’t,” Hela said.

“– because the barracks has too many doorways that need defending. Some of them will always be able to go around,” Daianya finished.

“I’ll move them,” Anima said. “I’ll move all the Valkyrie into the Great Hall, stand back.”

They all climbed up the golden stairs that led to the throne as Anima concentrated and held her hands up.

There were multiple flashes of blue and the sleeping Valkyrie appeared lying all over the Great Hall. Some were stacked on one another, but they were all present, including General Solveig and the other Commanders who slept in assigned houses.

“Right,” Daianya said. “Marlies, Güfi, Tyr, blockade the Hall and don’t let anyone in no matter what.”

Nal ran to the area behind the throne and activated the security measures. Metal shutters slammed closed over the large windows, cutting them off as access points.

“Hela, we’re going out there,” Daianya said as Tyr pulled a sword out of one of the fallen guard’s belts.

“Me too,” Anima said. “I need to lift the spell.”

“Can you move the Valkyrie weapons in here first? If they wake up we’re joining the fight,” Marlies said.

Anima concentrated as Hela made her way impatiently to the side door.

“Is my father in here somewhere?” Tyr asked.

A large amount of swords appeared across the throne’s stage. Anima looked at Tyr. “He’s in there somewhere, I made sure of it,” she said, nodding towards the pile of sleeping Valkyrie.

Tyr nodded, “Thank you, and good luck.”

Anima followed Daianya and Hela out of the side door. Nal went with them, closing it behind them. Güfi began to push the nearest piece of heavy furniture in front of it after they had gone.

“Can they really hold off a thousand men?” Tyr asked aloud.

“I’ve seen Hela fight,” Marlies said dryly. “The True Men are going to fall tonight.”

****

Tyr said they had specific targets,” Daianya said.

“I can take care of that,” Nal said. “The palace security system will tell me who is moving about. I’ll go up to the noble wing and wait for the ‘special teams’ to arrive.”

She broke off from the other three and disappeared further into the palace.

Hela, Daianya and Anima stepped outside into the courtyard nearest the barracks. There were already men moving through the yard. In the darkness, the three princesses surveyed their foe.

“Hela, charge in, kill anything that moves,” Daianya said.

“I am in charge, you know,” Hela said.

“And I am trained in warfare, trust in the only general you have available,” Daianya said calmly, “And kill anything that moves.”

Hela’s mouth curved into a smile. “Well when you put it like that,” she said and took off running.

“Anima, those sorcerers won’t be hanging back, doubly so in about ten more seconds when they realise Hela is among them,” Daianya said.

“I’ll take care of them, then lift the spell,” Anima said and vanished. She reappeared up on a balcony overlooking the yard just as Hela reached the men and the screaming started.

Daianya touched the pendant at her neck, summoning her armour and swords. It had been a while since she’d worn it, as on the battlefield she wore the uniform of the Valkyrie, but it still fit her perfectly.

She drew her swords and headed to the side, where – if the True Men had any strategic sense at all – a group of them would break off to try and enter the palace while the main force went to work in the barracks.

She was right, and they came around the corner to find her standing in the centre of the yard, waiting for them.

There was sudden glow of magic and the yard lit up like it was daytime. Anima clearly felt that it would be better for them to see what they were doing. Another flash and the gates and walls of the palace slammed shut, locking everyone inside with no way to retreat.

Daianya looked at the assembled men and smiled.

They charged. She did the same, launching herself at them with a crash and driving her swords through armour and into flesh. She spun in place and slashed another man across the throat. The next got a head wound and a third a stab through his belly. 

****

Hela tore through the men in the yard like they were made of paper. She laughed in delight as they ran from her, not wanting to face the nightmare that she was. 

“Don’t run, you cowards,” she called. “Whatever happened to True Men?”

She threw knives and axes, she slashed and she hacked. Oh how she _loved_ to make things die.

****

Anima stood up on the balcony and waited. There was no doubt in her mind that the sorcerers would reveal themselves soon. She was right. Once the light hit the yard and the gates were locked, they began trying to get them open again. She threw a ball of pure magic at the first one and forced him to jump to the side to avoid it. Unfortunately for him he landed on the sword of one of his friends, who was tripping all over the place in order to get away from Hela.

Anima tracked the next one down by his spell, only to find herself under attack from three others at once. She could feel the sleep spell they were casting press down on her, telling her to close her eyes, to rest, to let everything go.

“Not today,” she said to herself and summoned a massive amount of magic straight from Yggdrasil itself. She sent it back down the pathway the spell had come and ducked, covering her ears and shutting her eyes.

When the magic hit the three sorcerers they exploded, one second three perfectly intact men, the next blood and pieces of flesh no bigger than a cheap coin.

Anima opened her eyes and stood up, surveying her work. “I did always wonder what would happen if I did that,” she said a little guiltily. After all, she may have had the _thought_ but she’d never planned to actually test it.

****

Nal reached the noble’s living quarters and checked the security system. There were indeed a number of people moving through the palace corridors. They were coming up through the rear passageways, and so must have entered the palace via the gardens.

“Sully my gardens with your footsteps,” she muttered with a sneer.

Most of them were close, some were headed to the other side of the palace. Nal frowned, the healer’s wing? She’d have to get over there quickly.

The first group reached the floor she was on and began walking down the corridor without bothering to try and hide their footsteps, after all, as far as they knew everyone was unable to wake.

They were halfway down when one of them saw Nal standing in the shadows at the far end of the corridor. Her red eyes seemed to glow slightly in the dim light.

One by one they raised their swords.

Nal summoned a little power and waited.

They charged, letting out screams of defiance mixed with a little fear. She was, after all, meant to be asleep.

Nal waited until they had a good amount of momentum, and brought her hand down to the floor. Ice shot out across the corridor, sliding under their feet, allowing them no friction at all.

They fell over, swords stabbed into allies as they all hit the ground and kept sliding, unable to stop. Nal made a wall of ice grow in front of them and as a group they slammed into it. They struggled in place, unable to get even the slightest purchase on the ice. One man pushed off from one of the others and sent them both sliding in different directions.

Nal began to walk towards them. She had kicked off her shoes, and her bare feet had no trouble walking on the icy surface.

They slipped and struggled, getting nowhere, fear growing by the second as she continued to walk towards them at the same pace. She was almost upon them, just a few steps away, and their horror peaked high enough for some of them to wet their pants. Nal didn’t look like she normally did. Her mouth was different, her eyes were different, her hands had claws, and she was still coming towards them.

At the last second Nal sped up, falling on them with a sharp movement that caused their horror to spill over into pure, unfiltered terror.

Their screams were cut off abruptly, and the hall fell silent.

Nal rose and headed away without looking back. She had to reach the healer’s wing before her next victims.

****

Daianya spun again and sliced downwards, cutting off a man’s arm. There were a lot of them now, as no one with any ounce of brain wanted to face Hela, so she was getting them in waves as they fled across to her yard. She leapt into the air and brought her sword down on someone’s head, using every bit of melee training she’d ever had as well as whatever she’d picked up from fighting the war.

The men were, for the most part, not as well trained, but neither were they amateurs. The really useless ones had been left in their own barracks to sleep, probably because even the True Men’s Alliance knew that they’d accidently stab their own thighs half the time even against a sleeping foe.

She caught her sword on the axe of someone’s downward swing and deflected it. He brought it up again quickly and she recognised the stance of an actual fighter.

She ducked his next swing and tried to get in a quick stab, but the other men were starting to crowd her.

 _Anima, little help?_ she asked.

The other men all fell backwards, pushed by an invisible force. Daianya and the warrior circled each other, both looking for an opening. He swung his axe hard and she dodged, slipping under his swing and slicing at his armour.

“I’m going to kill you, bitch,” he growled, “And then I’m going to tear your bitch girlfriend apart on my cock before I kill her too.”

He swung his axe again, only to have it caught by the blade in Daianya’s bare hand. 

Her glowing, red, bare hand

Daianya’s whole body began to glow with the light of the berserker. Her face was a mask of fury. Her eyes _burned_ as they looked at him.

The men fighting to get to her began fighting equally hard to get away from her as she ripped the axe from his hand, then ripped the hand from his arm. He screamed in pain as she punched her hand straight through his sternum and grabbed his spine from the front. She tore it out of his body as the other men scattered.

Daianya ran after them, intent on removing any and all limbs. 

War? No problem.

Planning mass murder? Not that stressful.

Threaten her girlfriend? Now _that_ was worth getting angry over.

****

Odin had felt the spell as it passed through, but even a powerful sleep spell couldn’t make his mind settle when it was trapped in his personal unnatural sleep.

Frigga had already fallen asleep in the chair nearby, and so the spell made no noticeable difference to the silence he was already hearing. But there was no good reason he could think of for such a large and powerful spell. He struggled to rise out of his sleep but couldn’t break from his prison.

In desperation, he called out in his mind to the ravens. Were they also sleeping? Did they roost in the palace and thus got caught in the spell?

He called and called for long minutes filled with growing desperation and then, faintly on the edge of his focus, he heard a reply.

The raven was the same one from before. It was grumpy from having been woken but its natural curiosity had overwritten its desire to return to sleep. It flew close enough for him to enter its mind and allowed the intrusion with a small amount of humour. It _like_ where he’d taken it, and found fascinating the things he liked to look at. The raven blinked and Odin saw the world once again. He urged the raven up into the sky so that he could see the spell more clearly.

His horror slowly grew as the raven climbed. The spell was large enough to engulf the entire palace.

Dwarfs! He thought at first. The explanation was logical, although an attack of this nature so soon after such a devastating defeat seemed almost impossible. 

The raven really liked the way the magic showed up as a golden bubble through Odin’s vision. It thought the spell was pretty.

Odin had it swoop down lower, trying to see where the attack might come from. He saw the men in the courtyard and for the briefest of minutes he felt relief at knowing not all of the warriors had been affected, but then his relief turned to concern as a group of them entered the barracks with their swords out.

The raven flew to the window and watched as the men in question began to methodically stab through the chests of the warrior still sleeping. They were being very careful to only stab certain men while avoiding others.

“I’m glad we were chosen for this duty,” said one of them, “I’ve been wanting to thin the herd for a while, these pathetic _boys_ make the whole organisation look weak.”

“At least they’re not totally useless,” said another as he stabbed downward into someone’s chest. “Their sacrifice will bring us the king’s trust.”

Odin had no idea what they were talking about, but he wasn’t stupid. The men they were killing were all proud and vocal members of the True Men’s Alliance. Either this was a counter movement which had decided to take direct action, or it was a sly attempt at gaining popularity for the organisation which could use their deaths as a way to gain sympathy for their views.

Knowing what Odin did about Lord Elbin, he suspected the latter.

There was an increase in noise from the yard, a clashing of blades and the beginnings of screams. The raven flew up to the roof and looked down as Odin scanned for signs of resistance to the attack.

He saw Hela in the midst of a large group of men, they were fleeing as fast as they could from her as she hacked and slashed her way through them. Odin approved. Hela, for all her faults, was the greatest weapon Asgard had ever produced, and these men did not deserve mercy. He wondered how she had been able to resist the spell and got his answer a moment later when a high surge of magic blew past him and three sorcerers exploded into pieces.

Frankly, he’d never thought Anima would have had it in her, but then again even the most easy-going person had limits when their home was under attack.

Hundreds of the men fled into the Valkyrie barracks and Odin felt a surge of concern. The raven flew to the windows and he looked in, expecting to see a massacre like what was happening in the warrior’s barracks.

The Valkyrie weren’t there. Every bed was empty, every weapon’s stack as well. The raven tilted its head, expressing Odin’s confusion. Clearly they had found time to evacuate.

More magic surged across the yard and Odin reassessed his thoughts. Anima could have cleared them out, and would have if she suspected that they would be targeted.

The men inside the barracks were running around in confusion. Clearly they had expected sleeping victims and now they were unsure of what to do.

A moment later, a man came crashing through the wall backwards, well, half a man. Daianya ran in after him, glowing with red light as she leapt fully into the crowd of men and began ripping limbs off with wild abandon.

Odin knew she’d gone berserker once before, but he’d been too busy fighting his own battles to see it. There was something disconcerting about seeing his extremely calm and cool-headed daughter rip a man’s head off with her bare hands. He didn’t disapprove though, the men clearly had it coming and besides, berserker rage kept her from being harmed as long as it lasted.

The first layer of the sleeping spell lifted. Anima was working hard out in the yard somewhere. Odin took off again and flew up higher. He saw the security covers on the Great Hall had been closed shut, but now they began to lift.

The main doors opened and twenty-five thousand extremely underdressed and furious Valkyrie spilled out into the brightly lit yard. The raven settled high above the scene and watched with amusement as the two forces clashed without so much as a hesitation.

The men went down. They had the armour and they had better training than those chosen to be sacrificed, but General Solveig wouldn’t let a woman into the Valkyrie until she was good enough to hold off ten men while only dressed in her nightgown, and the attackers were outnumbered twenty five to one.

The men tried to flee. Some of them even made it to the gates or around the palace to the rear, but they were being swiftly pursued by the Valkyrie, who cut them down or dragged them back depending on how quickly they threw down their weapons.

Odin felt a surge of pride in them. This was something the True Men never understood. Maybe the average man was stronger than the average woman, maybe there were pursuits that women preferred over men even with all options available to her. But _these_ women, they chose to run into battle, they chose to train every day, they chose a hard life, because they _enjoyed_ it. 

He sat and watched, no longer concerned, as one by one the True Men fell to the very people they most feared.

****

Nal slipped into the healer’s wing like a shadow and saw the men gathered together, heading over to where the healers on duty were slumped at their desks. 

“Should we just kill them?” one of them said.

“The plan was the leaders, we can’t lose all the healers, that’s stupid,” said another.

“Our sorcerers can do healing spells,” argued the first man.

The temperature of the room began to slowly drop.

“Just the leaders, and the goddess, she’ll be put in charge in no time if we don’t,” said the second man, who started to shiver. “Is it getting cold in here?”

“Frigga too, she’s been sitting by Odin’s side for days, she’ll be in there,” said a third man, pointing with his blade. Frost began to form on the tip and he brought it up to his face with a puzzled look.

Ice crept slowly underneath their feet as the windows began to frost over.

Blades of ice shot up from below, piercing and impaling them from their groins to their necks. Most of them died in seconds, although one unlucky man did not have anything major get pierced, and gulped frantically around the tip of the blade as the pain and realisation hit him in the same moment.

Nal appeared in his vision and despite the blade holding him in place he began to struggle to run. He ripped his own organs apart as he panicked. Getting away from her was suddenly the only important thing in his life.

He gave a mighty lurch and the blade ripped through his front, slicing through muscle, bone, sinew and armour. His body fell dead on the floor, the ice blade remained upright.

Nal raised an eyebrow and headed away. There was one more group in the palace and she needed to reach them before they got past the security measures.

They were heading for the Princess Tower.

****

Hela chased down the last of the men still trying to escape. They screamed for mercy but she didn’t have it in her. She stabbed them with a laugh in her throat. Bor had been so sure that the night would be quiet, well, he would be surprised. Even the arrival of the Valkyrie to deprive her of more victims couldn’t dampen her mood. She had been left in charge and she had defended the palace and its people. If this didn’t prove that she was worthy of the throne then she didn’t know what would be.

Everywhere she looked she could see the dead and dying. She could feel it too, it made her eager to return to the battlefield. And Eitri? Well, she’d find a way to adapt. She had to avoid that axe of his but for the first time since their clash she finally felt confident enough to do it.

Some men made it to the far gate at the end of the gardens and managed to break it open. Hela growled in annoyance and ran after them. They scattered once outside the palace walls but she chased down at least three of them. Who cares if a few got away? They’d be found in the investigation that was surely to follow into tonight’s activities. The only thing that mattered to Hela was the kill.

And the kill, and the kill, and the kill. 

**** 

Daianya was fighting the rage inside of her. Berserker rage was a dangerous thing because it could be indiscriminate, and now that the arrival of the Valkyrie had finally registered in her mind she didn’t want to hurt them.

She pushed the rage down. The man who threatened Tarah was dead. The men he had been with were dead. Everyone appeared to be dead, or captured. Capture was good. Capture meant interrogations, it meant investigations, and trials, civilisation.

She breathed out and the light faded. The rage receded and she looked around herself to ensure that she was not in any danger.

There were still a few men fighting, but they were going down fast. Daianya had lost her swords in her rage. She tapped her pendant and they reappeared in her belt. She drew one and ran back towards the last of the fighting, once again back in control of herself.

 _Are there any left?_ she asked.

 _The sorcerers are all dead or caught up in a magical web,_ Anima responded. _I’m lifting the last of the spell’s layers now._

 _There are a group of men climbing the stairs of the Princess Tower,_ Nal added. _They couldn’t get the elevator to work because I disabled it before they got there. I’m heading over there now._

 _Tarah is still asleep in my room,_ Daianya thought, feeling a surge of worry.

 _She’ll be fine, I’ve got this,_ Nal replied.

Daianya turned and looked up to the Princess Tower. Everything was dark and from this far away, still. 

_Hang on, I’ll teleport us up there,_ Anima thought.

A second later Daianya was standing next to Nal in Anima’s room.

“How many are there?” Anima asked.

“Four,” Nal said. “I had just reached the bottom of the tower and was going to beat them here once I reactivated the elevator.”

“Well now you don’t have to - what happened to your face? Your teeth look… sharp,” Anima said.

Nal shrugged. “I feel spikey,” was all she said.

They stepped out onto the landing just as the men reached the top.

Daianya kicked the first one as hard as she could and he fell backwards into the other three, almost sending them immediately back down the long, twisted stairs to the floor below.

They managed to keep their feet and immediately drew their swords. Anima made a gesture with her hands and the one at the rear flew upwards to the ceiling. She moved him until he was through the window, hanging in the open air above a 500 metre drop.

Daianya began fighting with the first man, who she recognised as Lord Catren, who was swinging with the wild swings of someone who hadn’t picked up a sword in centuries. She knocked the blade from his hand and kicked him in the ribs hard enough to break them. He fell to the floor gasping as she turned to the next man.

This one was more of a fighter, and they clashed together hard and exchanged whatever blows could be made in such an unusual fighting space.

Commander Lomax managed to get himself up onto the landing at last and drew his sword at the sight of Nal. She grinned at him and he hesitated for a fraction of a second at the sight of her teeth, but then he charged, determined to complete his mission even if things clearly had gotten extremely messy.

She didn’t move, just waited in silence as he covered the distance between them.

By the time he reached her he was so cold his arms were no longer obeying him properly. All his limbs felt as though they had turned to stone from the cold and felt impossible to lift.

He tried to make a swing with his hand and realised he couldn’t.

“Do you know what hypothermia does to the body?” Nal asked him in a pleasant tone. “First you just feel a little cold and you shiver, then you feel very cold and you shake uncontrollably, then you feel extremely cold and lose feeling in your limbs. But that’s not the worst of it. See as you grow colder your brain starts getting confused, it starts convincing you to do strange things like slur your speech, lose you fine motor skills, that sort of thing.”

Commander Lomax stumbled and fell to his knees. Her voice was pervasive, he wanted it to stop but he couldn’t remember how. He was supposed to steal her necklace, wasn;t he? Maybe that’s how to make the voice stop?

He reached up clumsily with one shaking hand but she was just out of his reach.

“Then you have the truly severe symptoms,” Nal said. “As your body starts to get colder your heart rate goes down, your blood starts pooling in your core, trying to preserve what heat you have. Your skin starts to inflame, you start to hallucinate, things become so difficult to figure out.”

Commander Lomax had stopped shivering, he’d gone beyond his body’s ability to do so.

“Then the body tries it’s final, desperate attempt to warm you back up. It releases all that blood into your limbs to try and save you and weirdly, you start to feel really hot as a result,” Nal said.

Commander Lomax suddenly flushed with heat. He was so hot it hurt. He pulled at his clothes, trying to cool himself down.

“Undressing is usually a part of it at this point,” Nal added.

He couldn’t remember what he was doing there, he couldn’t remember anything about anything, all he knew was how hot he felt and how desperate he was to get his oppressive clothing off so that he could cool down.

“And finally, when there is nothing left for the body to do, no trick or mechanism to warm you back up, the brain starts to die, and in its death throws it makes you hide like the distant ancestors you are descended from,” Nal finished.

Commander Lomax was giving little gasps as he tried, without much success, to crawl about the floor in search of shelter. Nal watched him thoughtfully for a second and then smiled a cruel kind of smile. 

“Of course, the worst part of all is that once you go too far, even the best healers can’t bring you back should you suddenly find yourself warming up again,” she said.

The cold around him vanished. The warm night air flooded in, the shock of being suddenly warm hit his body hard and his blood pressure dropped. His heart stuttered and stopped in response, and he lay on the floor helpless as the heat and the cold clashed inside of him. If he had any thoughts left they would be of fear, but he was already too far gone with pain, and died in seconds, his face still a mask of primal horror.

Nal looked up in time to see Daianya slice through her opponent’s neck, as Anima finally managed to lift the last layer of the sleeping spell.

“Well,” Daianya said. “We have a lot of work to do.”

“Oh wonderful, I do love paperwork,” Nal said dryly as Daianya’s bedroom door opened and Tarah poked her head out. She looked at the results of their battle and then up at Daianya.

“I missed something important, didn’t I?” she asked.

“In fairness, so did most other people,” Nal said, turning and heading to her room.

What should I do with the one out the window?” Anima asked.

“Teleport him straight to the prisons,” Daianya said at the same time Nal said “Drop him.”

Anima teleported him away while sending a guilty shrug at Nal.

“I was mostly joking,” Nal said.

Anima walked over to where the body of Commander Lomax lay. “This is serious,” she said. “I had no idea someone as high in the army as him was a part of this.”

“I think there are going to be a lot fewer members after tonight, but I also think we cannot put off an investigation into the True Men’s activities anymore. War or no, this was a traitorous act and we need to know that we are safe at home,” Nal said.

Anima blinked, then reached down and pulled out a golden cuff that had been tucked into a bag at Commander Lomax’s side. “This is unusual,” she said, “Highly magical.”

“Is it a weapon?” Daianya asked.

“I’m not sure, I’ll study it and find out,” Anima said.

“We need to get back downstairs and sort out the remains of this mess,” Daianya said. “Hela won’t do it.”

Nal nodded. “Just let me get dressed first, half my nightgown is missing, bits of it kept breaking off from the cold.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I tell you about my song choices at the end of the story in the NOTES section, but guys...
> 
> Guys...
> 
> Guys...
> 
> It's Raining Men by the Weather Girls


	23. Aftermath

Loki teleported as close to the entrance of the cave that lead to the Well of Mimir as he could. The background magic kept him from getting too close, and he spent a number of hours hiking across the rocky ground. It was still several hours until sunrise when he arrived at the entrance and saw the two guards standing at attention by the entrance to the cave. He gave them a cheery wave as he approached. They exchanged glances and then drew their swords.

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Now I know the king and I have had our differences, but surely I can deliver a message from the palace without being run through,” he said.

The first guard swung at him and he ducked.

“No?” he added, confused.

The second guard tried to slash downwards at his arm. Loki shook his head in disbelief and drew his own sword. “Gentlemen, we really ought not to be fighting among ourselves,” he said, taking a guarding stance.

“You should be in the palace tonight,” said one of them.

“Yeah, dying like the rest of them,” added the second.

Loki’s expression went dark. “I would very much like an explanation for that statement,” he said.

“True Men forever!” yelled the first guard and lunged at him.

Loki stood still and cut him down as he rushed in, the look on his face was almost one of boredom.

“Oh, that,” he said. “Everyone’ll be fine then.”

“Not with the spell we’re using,” said the second guard as the first lay on the ground gasping in pain and bleeding heavily.

Loki’s eyes narrowed. “I suppose I’d better rush back then,” he said and leapt at the guard.

They traded blows for a few seconds, but Loki had four thousand years of creative fighting style behind him and the man fell quickly.

“Traitor!” roared a new voice from the entrance to the cave. It was Bor, he was still soaking wet from entering the waters in his consult with the seer and he looked upon Loki with an expression of pure hatred.

Loki looked at the two guards at his feet. “It’s not what it looks like,” he said.

Bor raised his own weapon and charged forwards. 

Loki ducked out of the way.

“Is your flyer around here anywhere?” he asked, “All of a sudden we have to rush back to the palace.”

Bor charged again and again Loki sidestepped him. 

“Seriously, ask the still living one, they said something about killing people in the name of the True Men,” Loki said, still dodging Bor’s swings. He had put his own sword away.

That brought Bor to a halt. “What?” he snapped.

“True Men, some kind of attack, they said I was supposed to die in it tonight,” Loki said. “They also mentioned a spell of some kind that would help them. I think we need to get back there as fast as possible.”

Bor turned and looked at the man on the ground. He was still bleeding slowly into the dirt beneath him and his eyes were growing glassy.

“Tell me the truth!” Bor barked at him.

The man looked up at him pleadingly. “For you… your Majesty… remove the problem women… and the opposition,” he coughed. 

Bor turned to look back at Loki. “What were you doing here?” he asked.

“The Dwarfs are planning another attack, I came to let you know of the change in the Valkyrie plans. It’s all happening tonight!” Loki said. “Oh look, there’s your flyer, let’s go.”

Bor left the man on the ground to die. He sprinted to the flyer just as Loki activated the engines and together they took off into the air.

“I’ll drive,” Bor said, taking the controls from Loki’s hands.

“As you wish,” Loki said.

“No jokes?” Bor asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Not tonight,” Loki said.

Bor frowned in confusion but said nothing else as they flew across the fields and ocean, heading at top speed back to the palace.

****

Myia Catrensdottir was in bed when her husband, Tifer, came home in a rush. She cringed at the sound of him coming up the stairs and then quickly tried to arrange her expression into a neutral expression. He hated it when her true feelings showed on her face.

He came into the bedroom and pulled off his clothes hastily.

“Get up and pour me wine,” he barked at her.

She rose from the bed and poured him a glass as he pulled on his nightshirt.

“It’s over, we’re ruined,” he said, taking the glass without thanks and downing it quickly.

“I don’t understand,” Myia said.

He sneered at her. “The Alliance! The great plan! It failed. Most of the men are captured or dead, only a few of us managed to get away! Your father, Commander Lomax, _my_ father, all lost. Lord Elbin will have to go into hiding, and if anyone asks I was here all night with you, got it?”

“My father is dead?” Myia asked.

“Yes you little idiot,” Tifer snapped, “Or captured, either way he’s not going to be around anymore.”

He threw himself into a chair and held his glass out. “More!” he snapped, “Come on!”

Myia picked up the wine bottle and poured him another glass. “They’re all gone?” she repeated in disbelief.

“Yes! Honestly, you’re so slow,” Tifer said. “It’s just us now, you and me. There will be an investigation, and you will tell them I was asleep here all night. You tell them that we weren’t that close to the inner circle, they’re women, they’ll believe it if you say it.”

Unseen behind him, Myia picked up a heavy weighted statue of a woman posing suggestively. It was Tifer’s favourite art piece.

“And then we’ll leave the city for my father’s estate, well, _my_ estate soon. We’ll spend some time there until Lord Elbin is able to rise again. He will, I have no doubt, and this time I will be even higher – ” Tifer was saying.

He never saw her lift the statue above her head, he never saw he step behind him, and he never saw her bring the statue down. It hit the top of his skull with a sickening crunch and he fell from the chair, wine spilling on the floor as he fell. He looked up bleary and dazed.

“Wha?” he managed to say as Myia stepped around the chair.

“If they’re gone, there’s no one left to punish me for this,” Myia said, her expression scarily devoid of emotion. 

He tried to crawl backwards as she raised the statue again but his head was already splitting in pain from the crack in his skull.

Myia brought he statue down again and the carpet got a second stain, this one of blood and brain matter.

She turned away and dressed herself, taking care to do her hair and ensure not so much as a wrinkle was present on her skirt. And then she left without looking back, heading for the palace.

Maybe they would punish her for killing him instead of letting the courts handle it, but given that traitors were always put to death she was reasonably confident that they’d let her off lightly. 

The night was dark as she walked unescorted through the silent streets, but that night she made her own light out of freedom and hope.

****

Lord Elbin sat at his desk and waited for the return of the men. They had left two hours ago, but it would take hours to complete the full goal and he wasn’t concerned that there had not yet been any sign of them. 

He took a sip of his wine and mentally went over his next moves. The speech he intended to make putting the blame on the Dwarfs and lamenting the loss of his men was sitting on the desk in front of him, ready to be spoken in the aftermath. The devastation would be enough to put him at the forefront of the new movement which would sweep the court. His allies were all poised to take their places to support him. It was all fall into place soon.

There was a knock at the door and his ears pricked up. He was hoping it would be Commander Lomax returning to tell him that Hela had been dealt with. She, more than anyone, was a real threat to Asgard.

There were voices downstairs, and then footsteps on the stairs. Lord Elbin looked up as the door opened and stood up in confusion at the sight of General Hymir stepping though the threshold, flanked by a number of Valkyrie.

“What?” he spluttered, before his brain finally caught up with the swords in their hands and the fact that they were directed at him.

“Lord Elbin, it is my duty to inform you that I hold a warrant for your arrest,” General Hymir said. “You will come to the palace with us, as will your family, your servants, and anyone else we find hiding around here.”

Lord Elbin suddenly became aware of the faint but persistent sound of footsteps echoing through the manor, as the Valkyrie began searching for whomever they might find.

“I…” he started to say, but stopped when General Hymir stepped forwards.

“Now, Lord,” he said.

Lord Elbin started walking. At the last second he grabbed his speech from the desk and tossed it into the fire. It was a guilty move, yes, but without the words they couldn’t _prove_ he knew anything.”

The fire died in the hearth.

“I told you I’d be useful,” said a voice from the doorway.

Lord Elbin felt a chill go down his spine as Nal stepped out from behind the Valkyrie. How she was standing there he had no idea, but what he did know was that something had gone terribly, horrifically wrong.

“Shall I take a look at what that was?” she asked pleasantly.

Lord Elbin was placed into cuffs and walked from the room. The last thing he saw was Nal reaching into the hearth and retrieving the still unburnt speech from the soot.

****

The sun was just rising as the flyer carrying Loki and Bor landed, and Loki breathed out a silent sigh of relief at the sight of Nal standing at the landing pad waiting for them.

“Your Majesty, there has been a serious incident in your absence,” she said the moment Bor alighted from the flyer.

“True Men?” Bor asked. “My guards weren’t as loyal to me as I hoped, or rather, they had a second loyalty,” he added after seeing her surprised expression.

“They’re dead now,” Loki said from behind him.

“They aren’t the only ones,” Nal said.

“How many?” Bor asked.

“Almost three thousand,” Nal said.

Bor stopped short and stared at her. “What?” he asked.

“A thousand men attacked the palace overnight. They were dealt with, but not before they slaughtered a great many of their own. We’re not sure why,” Nal said. “Most of the attackers died in the fighting, some were captured. Some got away and we’re tracking them now.”

“Three thousand men? In the middle of a war?” Bor repeated in disbelief. “The bloody Dwarfs have barely taken that many in fifty years!”

“We captured some for questioning,” Nal said, “And we raided Lord Elbin’s residence. We have enough evidence to prove he’s the ringleader, even without the statements obtained from the survivors.”

Bor nodded briskly. “Show me,” was all he said.

He looked out across the barracks filled with dead men with a stern expression. He surveyed the yard with an equally stoic gaze. The damage to the Valkyrie barracks made him raise an eyebrow as Daianya murmured an apology for throwing a man through the wall. He examined the splattered remains of the sorcerers with only a slight glance at Anima. However the frozen and terrified bodies in the nobles hall and the healers wing made him pause and turn to Nal with a questioning look.

Nal returned it with a stubborn expression of her own.

“They look like they’ve seen their worst nightmare,” he commented.

“They did,” Nal said bluntly.

“Good job,” Loki said from over her shoulder. Had Bor been paying closer attention he would have realised that Loki hadn’t left her side since they had returned, but his mind was elsewhere.

Up in the Princes Tower he stared down at the body of Commander Lomax, still lying with his face creased into agony.

“We’ll need to clear all of these bodies away,” he said at last, “And then I will have to deal with the remnants of the True Men’s Alliance, they should never have been allowed to grow as big as they did. Were it not for the war taking up my attention they wouldn’t have.”

Nal nodded by his side. “The Valkyrie are clearing away the bodies as quickly as they can,” she said, “They are supposed to start shipping out today, and General Solveig can’t spare too many of them to stay behind given the reports we received about the next Dwarf attack.”

“Yes, that does take precedence,” Bor said. “If the army has to take over then so be it, they’re not going anywhere until they’ve had more training anyway, that can do a bit of Valkyrie work for once.”

He returned to his office and looked up at his four granddaughters, who all stood before his desk in various stages of tiredness.

“I’m proud of you,” he said to them all, “Defending everyone, defeating the bloody True Men. I’d order a feast but there’s too much happening, after the war we’ll have to celebrate.”

Daianya and Nal nodded, Hela grinned, and Anima just looked tired.

“Go and get some sleep,” Bor said, “I’m back now, and I want you all refreshed, especially you Hela and Daianya, you will be going back into battle and I won’t have you fatigued.”

They bowed and left the room, heading back to their respective rooms.

Loki was waiting outside the office and silently joined their group as they made their way to the landing which led to Hela’s rooms.

Hela walked away from them without a word. Daianya and Anima turned to go back to the Princess Tower. Nal turned to Loki.

“Long night,” she said.

“Come and rest with me,” he said.

They disappeared off towards Loki’s room at a slow pace.

“He attacked me you know,” Loki said as they walked.

“The king? He hates you,” Nal said.

“True, but he’s never attacked me for it before. Of course I had just fought and defeated a couple of what he thought were his men,” Loki said. “I suppose that would put anyone in a bad mood.”

They reached his room and he pulled her close. “I’m glad you’re alright,” he said. “I heard Anima explain the spell idea to Bor, they were damn close to killing you all.”

Nal sighed. “That’s not something I want to think about,” she said. “I’m sure Anima is already working on a stronger magical alarm system of some kind.”

“No doubt,” Loki said, smiling.

Nal stripped her dress off and headed to his bed. “How tired are you?” she asked him, looking over her shoulder.

“Oh, well, you know Jotnir don’t need as much sleep as Asgardians,” Loki said, grinning.


	24. The Next Day

Tyr sat on one of the dining room chairs and tried to look his father in the eye. It wasn’t easy. General Hymir’s expression was one of profound disappointment.

“You did the right thing in warning the Princesses,” he said at last.

Tyr tried not to squirm in his seat. “They were going to murder everyone,” he said.

“Yes, and you saved us all. Having said that, you did also join a group whose sole goal was to place women beneath men in all settings,” General Hymir said, looking across at him. “I take full responsibility.”

Tyr blinked. “What?” he blurted out.

“I thought that you would be well growing up here among the trainees. I thought that we had a good relationship in spite of my frequent absences for my duties, both before and during this war. I was very wrong about that. I should have stepped down from my position when your mother died so that I could be here for you. I am sorry to have failed you, my son,” General Hymir said.

Tyr shook his head wildly; this was not how it was supposed to go.

“Father, no, you are a great general and a great man. Asgard needed you, it still needs you,” he protested.

“No it doesn’t,” General Hymir said firmly. “Asgard has had a great many generals over its history and it was still standing when I took the post. It does not need me more than you did.”

Tyr shook his head again. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Father, no, this wasn’t your mistake. I listened to the wrong people, I chose to believe their foolishness. I’m an idiot, at least, I was, I hope I can do better, but Commander Lomax fooled everyone into thinking he could be trusted, even you! Imagine what would have happened if you had stepped down, he might have been made General!”

“Or it would have gone to Arlec or to Hedric,” General Hymir said.

“I doubt it, Commander Lomax was always just on your heels as second in command. He would have gotten it and the whole army would have been different. Please Father, let me an actual true man and take responsibility for my actions,” Tyr said. “You didn’t fail me, I failed myself, and you.”

“His Majesty will not allow me to resign during a war, which is fair,” General Hymir said, “But after all this is over you and I are going to leave the capital for a while. You have a few centuries left before you are of age, and I intend to be here for them as best I can.”

Tyr nodded sadly. “Until then… did you want me to go Aunty’s house?” he asked tentatively.

General Hymir sighed. “I was thinking about it,” he said.

Tyr just nodded. “I’ll abide by your decision,” he said.

“The trials of the surviving attackers will take a few weeks and I will remain here for them. Let’s talk about that when I’m ready to get back to the war,” General Hymir said.

****

Anima groaned at the sound of the knock on the door.

“Breakfast, your Grace,” called the servant from outside.

“Ugh,” Anima said and rolled over. “Bring it in, thank you,” she called back.

She stumbled awkwardly out of bed and headed for the bathroom as the servant brought in her tray.

“What time is it?” Anima asked when she emerged.

“Almost lunchtime, your Grace, but his Majesty ordered breakfast for everyone, and has left orders to assemble in the Great Hall for a proper description of the night’s events,” said the servant, pointing at the paper that accompanied Anima’s breakfast. It had the royal seal on it.

“Ugh,” said Anima again. “Very well, thank you.”

She ate in silence, trying to wake up enough after too little sleep. It was not until she was on her second piece of toast that she caught sight of the cuff that she had retrieved from the body of Commander Lomax.

She waved a finger and it floated into the air. It was Dwarven made – a sin in of itself at present – and upon closer inspection it bore the mark of Eitri.

Anima examined it more closely, looking with eyes that glimmered with magic at the spells carved into its surface.

“Oh… wow…” she said softly as the realisation of what it was sank in.

She moved it to her private cupboard where she kept all of her most important or dangerous items and sealed it up inside for further investigation later.

“Too much to do, not enough time,” she muttered, seeing her work on regeneration spells sitting at her desk below the cupboard.

She had more runes to make as well; there just wasn’t enough time for everything.

Priorities. She had to attend the king in the Great Hall, but afterwards she would come back here and examine the cuff, then the regeneration spell, then runes. Other people could make runes, so they could wait until last.

Granted, no one could make them as fast as her.

“Maybe they should learn?” she said to herself as she showered and pulled on a dress, hastily grabbed from her wardrobe.

She met Nal in the hall as she headed to her room.

“When are you going to tell the king?” Anima asked her.

“After I’ve told Father, I can’t see things going well in either case, but they might go _slightly_ better if Father is there to temper the king,” Nal said, slipping into her room to pull on fresh clothes.

She was back a minute later just as Daianya emerged from her room, accompanied by Tarah.

They took the elevator, even Daianya didn’t feel like taking the stairs after the previous night’s activities.

“I hope this doesn’t take too long, I’m supposed to be getting ready to ship back out tomorrow, and I’ve already wasted half of today,” Daianya said.

“You needed rest, and besides, you’re cute when you’re sleeping,” Tarah said.

Daianya took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll miss you out there,” she said softly.

“Just make sure you come back,” Tarah replied in an equally quiet tone.

Anima felt a twinge of guilt for not working harder on the regeneration spell. Maybe she should swap priorities?

The elevator opened and they walked together to the Great Hall. General Hymir and General Solveig were already there, talking quietly while Tyr stood a little way away. Marlies and Güfi were nearby, Bor was on the throne, looking serious, and Hela was standing by his side, almost at attention.

“Scribe! We’re all here, start taking notes,” Bor said. “Now, let’s start at the beginning.”

He looked across at Tyr, who looked as though he wanted to sink into the floor.

“I… I heard about a special meeting of the True Men’s Alliance,” he began awkwardly as General Hymir stepped closer and laid a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Tyr recounted what he’d seen and his reaction. Marlies and Güfi confirmed his arrival and his demands to speak to Anima.

“Why Anima? Why not Hela, she was left in charge,” Bor asked. Beside him, Hela preened slightly.

“I knew that once the spell went through the only chance any of us would have would be if Princess Anima was awake to counter it,” Tyr said. “If I went to Princess Hela first there might not have been enough time.”

Bor nodded. “Good logic,” he said and turned to Anima. “You were woken?” he asked.

“Marlies and Güfi put in a call to wake me and ask that I come downstairs,” Anima confirmed.

She and the others took over the story from there. Bor smiled when Daianya described going berserk, and gave Hela an approving nod as she recounted her more destructive kills. He looked impressed when Anima described what happened to the sorcerers after she overloaded them with too much magic.

“I didn’t know that was possible,” he said, “Well, well, well.”

Finally, he turned to Nal. “You handled those who made it inside?” he asked.

Nal nodded stiffly. “I did,” she confirmed.

“I saw the results, well done,” Bor said. “I didn’t know you could freeze an individual like Commander Lomax without affecting the rest of the area.”

“I’ve been working on self-control,” Nal said.

Behind Bor, Hela snorted in derision. “Not going very well for the most part,” she muttered.

Nal turned her eyes to Hela and for a second the two of them engaged in a silent battle of wills.

“Well _I_ returned from the Well of Mimir and enlightenment to discover _Loki_ standing over the bodies of my two guards,” Bor said. “I have to say, it was a bit surprising, but it seems our race to get back wasn’t as necessary as we believed. I am proud of all of you for your actions last night. There shall be rewards once I have time to think of them. But right now the record is complete and we have the new Dwarf attack to worry about. You are all dismissed until I need you, go on.”

Anima turned away gratefully. “I’ll see you all later,” she said and teleported back up to her room.

The regeneration spell notes sat on her desk accusingly as she took the cuff out again. She hadn’t mentioned it to Bor, not yet, and certainly not in front of Hela. There was only one reason for this cuff to exist, and that was to trap someone in a seidr pocket so deep they could never escape. Anima wasn’t certain that anyone, apart from maybe herself, could fight their way back out. The spell was _incredible_.

It made sense that Eitri would create it, everyone knew he wanted Hela punished for what she’d done to his brother Sindri, but to join forces with the True Men’s Alliance? That seemed so very wrong.

And yet, how else could they have gotten it? How else could it have come into Commander Lomax’s possession.

By why was he bringing it to the Princes Tower? Hela didn’t sleep there, and using it on someone else was foolish when you could just kill them.

She spent the morning examining the cuff more closely, noting down each aspect of it onto a parchment with great detail. It needed to be tied to a life, _that’s_ how Eitri made the spell work so well without interruption. Blood magic was some of the most powerful in the nine realms, so it made sense.

“I wonder if it has to be blood?” Anima said to herself as she noted the detail down, “What if I put a drop of sap from a very long lived tree on there?”

Further investigation revealed that the tree would almost certainly die, its strength sapped by the spell until it perished.

“So… something stronger than a regular tree,” Anima muttered, taking careful notes. “A person is the best candidate, but it would severely weaken them. Who would make such a sacrifice?”

She stopped and pouted as the thought occurred to her. _She_ was an intensely powerful being whose magic would be crippled if she was ever linked to a spell like this. Commander Lomax may very well have been bringing the cuff upstairs to get a drop of her blood.

Or Daianya’s, or Nal’s, really, any one of them was strong enough to make the spell last, at least until their lives ended.

Anima suppressed a smile as one thought in particular drifted through her head, before turning back to her work. The cuff was an incredible piece of work, but it was also vulnerable. It had to be placed on the victim to activate once the blood had been applied. Hela wasn’t likely to hold still for anyone. 

“That explains the sleep spell then; it wasn’t just for me,” she said. 

****

Hela was back in her rooms, playing with Mjolnir and waiting to hear what ship she would be leaving on to re-join the war, when she received a message from Bor summoning her to his office.

She grinned and threw Mjolnir carelessly down. She’d done well defending the palace, she knew she had, and now she expected a reward.

She made her way to his office and knocked.

“Come in”

She pushed open the door and walked inside, trying to contain her pride as she stood before Bor’s desk.

He was drumming his hands on the surface and staring into the fire with a thoughtful expression.

“I learned many new things from the waters of the Well,” he said.

Hela frowned in confusion; she’d almost forgotten why he’d left in the first place.

“Did you learn why Loki cannot die?” she asked him.

“Yes,” Bor said quietly, “At least I believe I did, the Well does not give you information like making a report; you need to puzzle it out yourself. I saw many things while I was in the waters. I saw Sutur standing over Asgard, mighty and triumphant. I saw Jotunheim, and a birth that would herald the beginning of the end. I saw a child, laughing as he played with flames. I saw the branches of Yggdrasil break away as Asgard burned.”

Hela stood there awkwardly. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, it was… well, actually, she didn’t care. Not about Bor’s visions anyway. She just wanted to know what he wanted her to do.

“I have a task for you,” Bor said. “You will not leave Asgard until it is done. You will use only people you trust to help you, and you will carry it out tomorrow morning, before the sun is fully risen. You may have the rest of the day to make preparations.”

Hela leaned forwards, intrigued, as Bor told her what she must do.

****

Eir was at her desk working on runes when she heard voices at the door.

“Can’t believe you would walk so far, come in and let me examine you right now”

Curious, Eir put down her work and leaned over until she could see out of the door. The pregnant woman from a few days ago was being ushered into one of the examination rooms.

Eir rose and followed, pushing open the door and walking inside without waiting to be invited. “Hello, Myia yes? Are you still in pain?” she asked.

Myia looked up at her and smiled, although it was a little strained. “You made such a wonderful improvement, but I’m afraid I spoiled it by walking for too long,” she said.

“Hours, you said, _hours_. In the dark and then all through the morning, and at this advanced stage!” protested Inge, “What could possibly have motivated you to do such a thing?”

“I want to be a healer,” Myia said, “I have magic, and I’m very studious. Please will you take me?”

“Yes,” Eir said before Inge could answer.

“Excuse me, Eir, but you do not run the healers’ wing just yet,” Inge said.

“We’ll train you, if that’s what you want. You can do anything you want,” Eir said.

Tears formed in Myia’s eyes as she smiled. “No one’s ever said that to me before,” she said. 

“You are very nearly due to have your baby. How about we get you through that first and then you can see about becoming a healer?” Inge said.

Eir held out a hand and Myia took it with a squeeze. “He’s gone,” she said in a whisper, “He was a traitor and now he’s gone.”

“Good thing then,” Eir said.

“I might be in a bit of trouble, I’m the one who killed him,” Myia confessed.

Eir glanced up at Inge. That had not been what she was expecting.

“Last night Princess Hela killed a couple of hundred of the bastards. Princess Daianya about the same amount, and the Valkyrie took out most of the rest,” Inge said briskly. “You’re not going to be punished for just one. Now lie back and let me run the scanner, you need to heal before you can do anything else.”

Eir looked back and Myia and shrugged. “Inge knows more about this sort of thing than I do,” she said, “So I think you’ll be alright.”

Myia lay back with a sigh of relief. “I’m going to be a healer,” she said, “And no one is going to stop me. There’s no one _left_ to stop me.”


	25. Amora's Grand Plan

Grundroth stared out of the window as the body of Thrym was carried out of the palace gates, heading for the glacier nearest his childhood stronghold where he would be laid to rest by his mother and the brothers who had gone before him. 

“I want to know who did it,” he said, not for the first time. 

“I am investigating,” Raolr said. He was standing beside the newly made General Groupr, who was watching the king with anxious eyes.

“You said that yesterday,” Grundroth muttered.

Raolr and Groupr exchanged a quick glance. “Investigations can take time, my King, but we will find who did this,” Raolr promised.

“You could use magic,” said Amora from her chair by the heat stones which had been specially brought in for her comfort.

Grundroth turned to look at her. “How?” he asked as Raolr shook his head.

“I know a tracking spell, it allows you to look back through time a short way, you could watch the crime happen and see if you can identify the perpetrator,” Amora said.

“I have never heard of such a spell before,” Raolr said sharply.

“They use it on Vanaheim all the time,” Amora said.

“I would like to confirm that claim,” Raolr said, making a note in his workbook.

Grundroth frowned at him. “Why?” he asked, “Do you think my lover is a liar?”

Amora turned to look at Raolr. “I assure you it is very common, although less effective the more time passes,” she said.

“Come to the murder site, right now, I want to see who did this,” Grundroth said.

Amora rose and pulled her coat over her shoulders. Together she and Grundroth led the way downstairs and across the yard to the barracks where Thrym’s office had been.

It was still as it was when he’d been murdered. Raolr hovered over them, watching Amora closely. “Don’t disturb anything,” he said.

“The spell was specifically designed to touch nothing,” Amora said reassuringly. Raolr did not look convinced.

She held her hands out and made a face of deep concentration. The room seemed to take on a shadow of itself, which, slowly at first but then with increasing speed, shifted around them all. There were hints of people moving about, Raolr’s face appeared at one point, as did Groupr’s.

“About here,” Amora said, her voice sounding strained. “Is it back far enough?”

Thrym was sitting at his desk working.

“Yes,” Grundroth said, “Yes I can see him.”

Raolr frowned at the image. “How do we know this is really looking backward in time?” he asked, “It could just be an illusion.”

The door opened and Raolr walked in. He and Thyrm appeared to be having a conversation.

“This _is_ an illusion!” Raolr snapped, “I never spoke to Thrym the day he died.”

Behind Thrym, a new person appeared. The three of them watched closely as Amora whimpered and her arms shook with strain.

“Pathetic,” Raolr mumbled.

The new person crept in through the small window at the back of Thrym’s office. He was in full view of Raolr, who kept talking to Thrym without indicating anything was wrong.

The small Jotun pulled out the end of a spear which had been broken off from the main shaft and plunged it into Thrym’s back. The ghost Raolr stood up, turned and left immediately. The smaller man pulled the spear-end back out and climbed back through the window, leaving Thrym slumped dead against his desk.

Amora gave one more whimper and collapsed. Grundroth caught her and cradled her close. “Are you alright? My love, are you alright?” he asked.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him with a soft smile. “This is why I never went into security work, the strain is too much for me. Did you see what happened?”

“Yes,” Grundroth said darkly, lifted her into his arms and turning around.

“You cannot possible believe this farce?” Raolr asked.

“You employ smaller Jotnir to move in difficult places all the time,” Grundroth said, “Your ‘little men’ are famous for their spy work, in fact.”

“I never came here to visit Thrym, and anyone can see that he was speared through the window, not by someone climbing through!” Raolr said.

Amora stayed silent and just nuzzled into Grundroth’s chest.

“Groupr, lock Raolr away until I decide what to do with him,” Grundroth said.

Raolr glared at Amora with open hatred. “You did it,” he said to her. “You must have, but I don’t know why.”

Grundroth’s face went even darker. “Amora was with me all day yesterday, and with that accusation I know you are guilty. Lock him away, Groupr.”

Groupr took Raolr’s arm. “Come on,” he said quietly, “Don’t make it worse.”

Raolr walked out with his head held high. Groupr escorted him down to the dungeons. In deference to their friendship and his personal belief regarding Raolr’s loyalty, he didn’t hold on to his arm very tightly.

“She did it somehow, she had to,” Raolr said, “Why else would she try this cover up? And I don’t believe for a second that a spell like that exists.”

“If it does, I don’t believe she is powerful enough to cast it,” Groupr said. “But she _is_ powerful enough to bewitch our king.”

“Do you think it’s a real spell, or just the fact that she’s willing to have sex with him?” Raolr said.

Groupr shot him a look. “You are usually more discrete than that, spymaster,” he cautioned.

“Not spymaster anymore,” Raolr muttered.

“I’ll try to figure out what happened and prove your innocence,” Groupr said as Raolr walked into one of the cells and turned to face him. “You won’t rot in here, I promise.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” said Laufey, stepping out of the shadows, “I mean, forgive me, I only heard something about you being definitely innocent of something, but if you’ve managed to piss off Grundroth you aren’t going anywhere, ask me how I know?”

Groupr shut the cell door and walked away without saying anything, Raolr turned to look at Laufey through the bars. “You sleep down here, don’t you?” he asked.

“Let me get you a few blankets, there’re a bit dirty but it’s all I could scrounge,” Laufey said. “And if I can steal a little something from the kitchens at the end of the night I’ll being you something better than gruel.”

“Thank you,” Raolr said. 

“What does he think you did?” Laufey asked.

“He thinks I killed General Thrym,” Raolr said.

Laufey shook his head. “Why would you do a thing like that?” he asked. “Thrym had enemies, most Generals end up with a few, but you and he worked well together, or so I thought.”

“We did, the witch in our king’s bed has made him think otherwise,” Raolr said.

“Well until one of us grows a vagina and jumps into bed with the king I doubt things around here are going to change much,” Laufey said, “Let me get you those blankets.”

****

Grundroth carried Amora back to her private rooms and laid her down on a couch. “I’ll fetch you something warm to drink,” he offered.

She smiled up at him. “You are the kindest man I’ve ever known,” she said. 

He turned away and yelled out some orders to the servants outside. “Do you need anything else?” he asked.

“No, I will be fine with rest,” she said. “I hope I never have to perform such a difficult spell again though, I hope this court will be safe now.”

“I will make sure of it,” Grundroth said.

“You will need a new spymaster, one that is not loyal to Raolr,” she said.

Grundroth nodded, his face serious. “All his second in commands are loyal to him,” he said. “I shal have to think of someone else to keep an eye on them all.”

****

It was late that night when Laufey woke to the sound of his door slowly opening.

“Thank me,” said Amora once she was in the room.

“You are the reason Raolr sits in a bare cell tonight?” he asked.

She shrugged. “And the reason your brother, Kilstrum, is going to be the next spymaster,” she said. “The sons of Morag now have control over more than half the king’s council.”

Laufey smiled and reached out for her. She wrapped her arms around him and let him lift her up for a kiss. “You are a genius,” he said.

“I know,” she said, reaching one hand down to gently stroke him through his loincloth. “Reward me?”

He pulled her skirts up and found her bare beneath. She was already wet and moaned softly as his fingers probed her gently. “As you wish,” he said and laid her down on his bed. She almost protested – he knew how much she loved to be taken while standing – but stopped mid word when he buried his tongue inside of her.

She put her wrist to her mouth and bit down on the fabric as he lapped between her legs, working diligently to find all of her most sensitive spots.

“Oh,” she gasped and bit her sleeve again, trying to keep from making too much noise. Normally they were alone down here but Raolr’s cell wasn’t all that far away.

Laufey moved faster, using a finger to help as his tongue moved in and out.

Amora gasped and came, screwing up her face and tensing her body as she rode the wave of pleasure he had created.

“Satisfied?” he asked her.

She grinned at him and nodded. “Very. You know how to bring me pleasure.”

“And he doesn’t?”

“He worries about his own,” she said, sitting up.

“Not for much longer, although it must look like an accident, especially after Thrym,” Laufey said.

“Hunting accident, I’ve got it all arranged,” she said.

“I didn’t think he was going to hunt,” Laufey said.

“He thinks that too, but he will, all those young men impressing me with their prowess? He’ll join, and then he’ll have an accident,” Amora said. “Do you want me to return the favour?”

Laufey looked down at his hardened length. “Only if you want to,” he said. “I would never dream of insisting.”

She smiled and sank to her knees. Laufey settled into a better position on the bed as she peeled back his loincloth and took the end of him into her mouth.

She couldn’t get much length in, the size difference between them was manageable, but not for everything. Instead she sucked on the end as best she could as she used her hands on the rest of him.

“Does he make you do this?” Laufey asked.

She lifted her head. “No, and I don’t want him to even think of it, he’ll want me to swallow him the whole way and I just can’t.”

She went back to her task, licking and sucking on him as he panted and tried to keep his moans quiet. At the last second she moved away and let him come into open air.

“I’d swallow, but it would be messy and I can’t risk it,” she said after he was finished. “Once Grundroth is gone we can do a lot more together, and it will be in the royal rooms instead of this nasty dungon.”

Laufey wiped up the mess with a scrap of cloth. “I know, and I promise you that when the day comes, we shall celebrate together in all the ways you dream of. I will make you see the gates of Fólkvangr with nothing but my tongue and cock to help me.”

She chuckled and slipped to the door. “I look forward to every moment,” she said and left him alone.

Laufey’s smile faded. She was clever, yes, but she was stupid too. Still, if he really had to celebrate with her then he could do so; what mattered was that afterward she left Jotunheim forever so that he, and the rest of the court, could serve the real queen.

****

The first of the Valkyrie left on their ships that afternoon. General Solveig was going with them. Daianya stood with Tarah by her side on one of the balconies of the palace and watched as the ships took off.

“I don’t think there’s anyone left other than the king himself who doesn’t want peace,” Daianya said. “This war is so stupid.”

“Careful, that’s almost treason,” Tarah said.

“I’m right though,” Daianya said. “Eitri wants peace, his people and ours deserve it, even Vanaheim cannot truly start to recover until the fighting stops.”

“Take care of yourself out there,” Tarah said. Her new leg was well made and she’d stopped limping already, but it was killing her that she wouldn’t be able to go back out with her squad.

“How long before you go back onto any kind of duty?” Daianya asked.

“Three months,” Tarah said bitterly. “They want to be sure I can handle the movements I’ve still got. Then I have the choice of staying here and training up the new recruits to intermediate level, or joining the recovery-only squads and cleaning up the battlefields after the fighting is over. I think I’ll take the battlefields.”

“Facing all that death is not easy,” Daianya said.

“Facing a room full of children Brunnhilde’s age is harder,” Tarah said.

Daianya gave her a kiss. “I’m sure things will work out,” she said.

“They already have, I’m alive, so are you, the True Men are broken and on the run, and we both still have the Valkyrie, one way or another,” Tarah said. “Don’t be sad, just pity me when you’re out there while I stay back here and fill out all the application forms for our couple’s quarters.”

Daianya smiled at that. “You can wait until I get back again and we’ll do them together,” she offered.

“Then it will take even longer to get approval. No, I’ll take care of it,” Tarah said, giving a smile of her own.

****

Nal spent the remainder of her day working on palace business. Bor was off interrogating the survivors of the True Men’s massacre, which left all of the paperwork to her and Vili, who had already fallen asleep in his chair despite not having any disruptions the night before.

She worked until the sun went down, then headed upstairs to change for the feast. Anima was just coming out of her room when Nal arrived. “Are you alright?” Nal asked her.

“Just tired, it’s been a long day,” Anima said. “I’ve been researching that cuff I found, it’s… it’s quite an impressive artefact. I want to tell Father about it when he wakes.”

“He must do soon,” Nal said, “It’s been almost three days now.”

“He chose to put it off for a long time,” Anima said.

“I want to talk to him too,” Nal said. “Why is he always unavailable just when we need him the most?”

“I don’t think he’d be Father if he wasn’t at least a little bit unavailable,” Anima said with a touch of sadness in her voice. “Um… what are you going to do if the king banishes Loki?”

“Leave with him,” Nal said without hesitation. “Go to Uncle Vé on Alfheim until we figure out where to go and what to do next, and then wait for Father to become king and hope he’ll let us back in.”

“He will, Father wouldn’t banish either of you,” Anima said.

“The king is healthy, we’d be gone a long time if I can’t convince Father to stand up for us and talk the king into letting us stay,” Nal said.

“But on the other hand you could have so many great adventures,” Anima said. “I’d always wanted to travel the stars with Senan but things kept getting in the way.”

“I wish mortals lasted longer,” Nal said.

Anima shrugged. “It is what it is,” she said. “At least there’s a place in Yggdrasil’s branches for our souls to gather, I have no idea what happens to those born outside of the nine realms.”

“Daianya would know,” Nal said.

They headed down to the feast together. Bor was already on his throne, grinning happily, while Hela was absent.

“Is Hela joining us tonight?” Nal asked as she took her seat.

“Hela is busy, there are a lot of executions to plan for that must be taken care of soon,” Bor said. “She wasn’t disappointed to work through the evening.”

Daianya and Tarah arrived and took their seats.

“Leaving tomorrow?” Bor asked Daianya, who nodded. “Pity Odin hasn’t woken yet, I’m sure he’d want to see you off. Maybe he’ll wake before you go tomorrow.”

“I hope so,” Daianya said.

“Where’s Frigga?” Bor asked.

“Still at Father’s side, as far as I know,” Nal said. “They’re quite happy together.”

“Good, I like her,” Bor said, “She’s got a warrior’s heart and a woman’s brain, that’s a good combination.”

****

Frigga fought a yawn as she put her book down. Her throat was feeling better due to the tonic she’d gotten, but she was hungry and feeling tired from reading aloud all day.

“I brought you dinner,” Eir said, appearing at the door as though summoned. “I had the kitchens deliver a few trays for those of us on duty.”

“You are an agent of Yggdrasil itself,” Frigga said.

“Doyou think he can smell the food?” Eir asked.

“I’ll have to ask him when he wakes,” Frigga said.

“If he can, it might be better not to eat it in here, I can’t imagine the torture of smelling all this after three days of not eating,” Eir said.

Frigga looked across to where Odin still slept. “I’ll come back soon,” she said and left the room with Eir.

“Come and eat with us,” Eir said, “We’ve got a new patient in at the moment who wants to be a healer, I’ll introduce you.”

Frigga followed obediently and found herself sitting next to a heavily pregnant woman with a gentle smile and a soft demeanour.

“This is Myia, she’s going to be staying with us until she gives birth, and then she’ll be enrolling in healers’ studies,” Eir said. 

“Aren’t you Lord Catren’s daughter?” Frigga asked.

Myia nodded, “I was, but he’d dead now, and my brother is going on trial as a True Man, so very soon I’m going to be a lady.”

“You don’t seem concerned,” Frigga commented.

“They’re traitors to the throne, and they weren’t very nice people. Is it terrible that I don’t miss them?” Myia asked her.

“Under the circumstances, I’d say probably not,” Frigga said, “…and your husband?”

“Dead,” Myia said, “He was also a part of it.”

“Oh,” Frigga said. “Well, I’m glad you have a plan for the future.”

They ate together, talking quietly about the war and about their duties.

“I hope it’s all over soon,” Eir said. “I was never so scared as when that battle was happening and the wounded kept pouring in, how they go back out there I’ll never know.”

Frigga shook her head sadly. “King Dimcken will have to have his hand forced, and that won’t happen as long as King Bor is dedicated to continuing the war.”

“That’s what I feared,” Eir said.


	26. The Fall

The Drapht roared in defiance and swung its head around. The watching crowd drew in a universal breath as the hunter took a flying leap up onto its head and shoved his spear through its eye, penetrating deep into its brain.

Amora gave a whoop of delight and clapped her hands. “Magnificent!” she exclaimed, looking across at Grundroth, “Your hunters are a credit to you, that was simply… magnificent!”

“That was certainly a good move,” Grundroth said, “The Drapht will fall any second now.”

It did indeed fall, its huge body slammed into the icy ground, causing a minor shockwave which made the watching crowd jump in their seats. Amora looked across at Grundroth again. 

“Are we truly safe here? The ice isn’t going to give way is it?”

Grundroth gave her a broad smile. “No, no, it’s far too thick. It’s just the surface that carries the shockwave.”

“Those Draphts are enormous, bigger than any creature living on Vanaheim,” Amora said. “Taking one down single-handedly must be something only the greatest and most skilled hunters can do.”

Grundroth shrugged. “It’s not so hard,” he said.

Amora shot him a seductive smile. “Oh? Were you quite the hunter before you became king? I could believe it, given the muscles I’ve seen on you.”

He grinned at her. “Oh yes, I loved hunting in my younger years.”

“Although it must be nice to sit back and watch now,” Amora said, “And to leave all the danger and glory to someone else.”

Grundroth looked back at the field where the Drapht had been herded by the hunters before they attacked to ensure the crowd had a good view. “I was the toast of the court,” he said.

“And now you do the toasting,” Amora said, “How will you reward these strapping young men? Fine weapons? A special favour? A feast?”

Grundroth shifted in his chair. “I’ll think of something,” he said.

Amora laid a hand on his arm. “If you throw a feast then the storytellers can tell the court all about your most impressive kill, I’d love to hear all about it.”

Grundroth looked down at her, but she was watching the hunt as it continued.

“You shall see it for yourself,” he said, rising from his chair. “Just you watch.”

She looked at him then, eyes wide with surprise and a little bit of concern, both of which only spurred him on. “You can’t possibly, you are the king, it has been years since you hunted has it not? Come and sit by me and watch your mighty subjects as they win your favour,” she pleaded.

Grundroth just turned and walked away. It hadn’t been _that_ long since he last hunted, and he wanted to see the look on her face when he brought her back a Drapht horn as a trophy.

“My King, surely you don’t mean to hunt?” Groupr asked as Grundroth left the viewing platform.

“I will do as I please, Groupr, now watch over my lover until I return,” Grundroth said, leaving him standing there, looking mildly horrified.

“But this is how Hailstrum died,” Groupr said in a final protest.

Grundroth ignored him. It was true that the last king had died in a hunt, but it wasn’t as though that happened every time. Most kings died in their beds, and Grundroth was still a strong and capable warrior, he’d hardly let himself grow corpulent.

He jumped up on one of the hunter’s speeders and grabbed a spear. There were a few Draphts left in the herd, and they were growing panicky at being surrounded and picked off, but Grundroth had hunted many times and knew what he was doing.

He rode faster as he approached one from the rear, watching closely for it to swing around as they tended to do. As he reached its hind legs it reared in fright at something in front of it. Grundroth compensated and drove his speeder through its hind legs and leapt up to grab the fur under its belly.

He climbed quickly around to its back and ran along the spine to its head, revelling in the rush that his actions brought him. Being a king meant so many responsibilities fell on his shoulders, he’d almost forgotten what it was like to simply enjoy something as exciting as a hunt.

He reached the neck and braced himself; getting across the wildly moving neck to the head was always tricky. As the Drapht moved again he leapt, catching the fur on its face in one hand and swinging himself up towards its eye.

The fur snapped. It shouldn’t have. Drapht fur was thick and strong, so strong it was used to make cabling for large bridges. It shouldn’t have broken off under the weight of a single Jotun, but it did.

Grundroth felt fear in his chest as he fell, tumbling down to the ice below with nothing to break his fall. It took seconds, but it felt like a lot longer, and then he slammed into the ice, breaking bones and damaging organs. His spear flew out of his hand and he lost consciousness.

This turned out to be a blessing, because a second later the large front foot of the panicking Drapht crushed him totally, completing what the impact had started.

****

Up on the viewing platform, Amora let out a little shriek as the crowd screamed in horror. Groupr looked on in shock and disbelief as the scene unfolded before his eyes. It had taken less than six minutes for the king to go from joining the hunt to dying in it.

One of the braver hunters ran over to where the king had fallen, but skidded to a halt before he reached the spot and just stood there, staring.

The other hunters opened a large gap in their blockade and the remaining Draphts fled through it the moment they saw it.

Groupr raced out to the field on a speeder as fast as it could move, but before he reached the spot he already knew it was hopeless. The large spatter of blood was too big, and Grundroth’s body, when he laid eyes on it, was not fit for delicate eyes.

“Guards, form a ring, don’t let anyone see,” Groupr said, trying not to vomit. “And someone fetch the… the healers… they’ll have to collect what they can for burial.”

The hunters and guards together formed a ring around the body of Grundroth as Groupr headed back to the viewing platform. Most of the council members had been watching, and he needed to tell them that the king was dead.

They were waiting for him, all of them looking anxious as he climbed off the speeder.

“Our king, he’s… he did not survive,” Groupr said. “He is dead.”

“No!” gasped one of the older members of the council, “How could this have happened?”

“He must have missed catching the Drapht fur,” said another, “Why else would he fall?”

“Why indeed?” said a quiet voice by Groupr’s side.

He turned and found himself looking at Laufey.

“What are you doing here?” Groupr asked suspiciously.

“I was ordered to stand by and clean out the Drapht anuses before they were taken to the processing plants,” Laufey said, gesturing to the stack of cleaning supplies behind him. “I don’t know why you are looking at me like that.”

“You hated him,” Groupr said.

“That’s hardly a secret,” Laufey said, “Can we perhaps talk over by the anal brushes?”

Groupr followed him cautiously, leaving behind the council who were already arguing. “First Thrym and now the king,” he said, “And your brothers control the majority of the council.”

“Yes,” Laufey said, “Please believe me, I know how it looks, but my feelings about Grundroth are open and understood. My ability to carry out my deepest desires in that area were rather well curtailed however.”

Groupr frowned at him.

“I did not promote my brothers, I had less influence over the king than a nipping knat. I had no reason to kill poor General Thrym, who was always kind to me. I certainly had no reason to imprison Raolr, who never considered me a threat,” Laufey said. “But there is someone here who _does_ , is there not? Someone who had great influence over the king’s mood and choices, someone who Thrym and Raolr didn’t like, saw as a threat, someone who wouldn’t stop talking about how brave and strong those hunters were. I’ve never been stupid General Groupr, you know that. I can see a likely suspect for all of this, and so can you.”

Groupr glanced behind him to where Amora was watching the arguing council without a single tear in her eye.

“Raolr was sceptical of her time viewing spell,” he said.

“Time viewing? I’d be sceptical too,” Laufey said. “I’d at least investigate whether such a thing existed.”

“That’s what Raolr wanted to do,” Groupr said.

“You’ve known him a long time, General, surely you know whether he’d do what he is currently in prison for,” Laufey said, “And as for me? Well, I’d like not to have to clean out Drapht anuses, if that’s alright by you. Until our new queen arrives you do have the power to make those decisions.”

Groupr flinched slightly at the reminder; he was a good fighter and commander, but he’d never wanted a king’s level of power.

“Nal is the rightful heir,” he said, sounding uncertain, “But her family, her upbringing.”

“So you intend to buck tradition, to declare yourself king?” Laufey asked as swift as a snake, “For who would take the throne if not the General of the army?”

Groupr shook his head hard. “No, of course not, I was just wondering how she’d fit in,” he said.

“Without Grundroth around she might even like it,” Laufey said. “You need to make the declaration, and quickly, the council is already arguing and the body hasn’t even been collected off the field yet.”

Groupr turned back to look. The council was indeed in the middle of a heated argument.

“Go and fetch my commanders,” he told Laufey. “Tell them I need them here at once. Raolr can be let out of prison, at least until we’ve communicated with Vanaheim and found out if that spell is real or not.”

Laufey gave him a nod of respect and left. Groupr turned and walked back to the group of councillors.

“Everyone, stop it,” he barked, “We have a final duty to our departing king.”

They stopped arguing and looked mildly ashamed.

“I still say there are too many sons of Morag here,” Muttered the oldest councillor.

“And _I_ say we were all appointed by Grundroth himself,” snapped back one of Laufey’s brothers.

“And now _I_ say you both have duties to fulfil, to our departed king, and to our incoming queen,” Groupr said.

“Queen?” said Amora from up on the stand. “You intend to fetch the daughter of _Odin_ and make her your queen? Why?”

“Because it is our way,” Groupr said, eyeing her warily. 

His commanders approached him and he tried not to sag with relief. 

“But she’s a princess of another realm, surely someone here is better suited?” Amora argued, glancing at the Morag side of the council.

Groupr’s mind flickered back to Laufey, who had demonstrated a great deal of cleverness during his time as Grundroth’s secretary and assistant. Could he truly have nothing to do with any of this? But he’d spent so many years as Grundroth’s slave; surely he didn’t have the power? 

The commanders arrived at his side.

“Detain Amora,” Groupr said.

“What? Why?” Amora yelled.

“I’ll determine that soon,” Groupr said.

She let out a scream and jumped up. “You cannot be serious? I have done nothing!”

The commanders reached for her and she tried to run away from them. She was stopped by one of the council members, a son of Morag.

“This is an outrage!” she said, “You arrest me for loving your king?”

Groupr said nothing as she was taken away. He felt uneasy, but at the same time he knew in his heart that Amora was trouble.

“Maybe I should have just expelled her,” he said to himself.

“No, I am certain she is behind Thrym’s death, and I intend to prove it,” said Raolr from behind him. Laufey stood at his shoulder, looking pleased. 

Groupr looked around at all of the different factions, from the sons of Morag, to the older councillors, to Raolr’s grim face, to Laufey’s confident smile. There was only one thing he knew for certain.

“We need to bring our queen here as soon as possible,” he said.

“She earned the throne,” said the oldest council member.

“She is the only heir and the only possible choice,” said a son of Morag.

“You should contact Asgard as soon as possible while I make enquires to Vanaheim,” Raolr said.

Something in Groupr’s chest unwound just a little. The court had many opposing members, but at they could be united over one thing.

“I will contact them now,” he said. 

“May I assist you?” Laufey asked him.

Groupr almost said no automatically. Grundroth would never allow Laufey to go anywhere near Nal ever again. But Grundroth was gone, and most of his court had disapproved of his treatment of Laufey, silent disapproval, but disapproval none the less.

“Yes,” he said, “She’s met you before; you might be a good choice to help bring her the news.”

Laufey just smiled.

****

Loki lay in bed beside Nal, lazily trailing his fingers across the lines on her stomach. “Your patterning is very pretty,” he said.

“All Jotnir have patterning, except you,” she said in reply.

“I know, but some of it is dreadfully ugly, yours is not. It’s aesthetically delightful,” Loki said. 

Nal gave him a smile. “You feel like fireworks,” she said.

“I’ve been gathering code of my own for millennia,” he said. “It’s all in me, shifting and twisting about, every animal, every plant, every person, all mixed up together.”

“When Hela killed my Home’s Shelter tree all those years ago?” Nal asked, looking at him questioningly.

“I may have encouraged it to start again,” Loki said.

“That’s why it had the same code, you said it was a tiny piece of the original that survived,” Nal said.

“I don’t think anything can survive Hela’s waves of death” Loki said. “I think they can be stopped or diverted, but once they touch something it dies completely.”

“Anima brought me back to life with magic when I got hit by one,” Nal reminded him.

“She stopped you from fully dying, if it had swept through you fully before she cast her spell you would not have survived,” Loki said, “Only I have the ability to come back from that.”

“You would still come back even if all your cells were gone, even if your code was ripped up into fragments?” Nal asked.

Loki shrugged. “Yggdrasil needs me,” he said carelessly, “I’ve come back from a lot of things, I have no reason to think that will be the exception.”

“Daianya leaves to go back into battle tomorrow,” Nal said. “Are you planning to go with the Valkyrie or to stay until Father wakes?”

“Oh I’m staying,” Loki said, “I want to be here when we tell him about us. I want to take a picture of his face before I plead my case.”

Nal smiled and rolled her eyes. “You would too,” she said.

“Of course, I enjoy that sort of thing. Life is long and unending, I have to take amusement where I can,” Loki said. “In fact I have a new goal in life. I am determined to make you laugh.”

“That’s hardly a worthy goal,” Nal said.

“On the contrary, you are worth everything to me, and therefore all my goals which centre around you are worth y by default,” Loki said.

“I’m not ticklish, so stop thinking about it,” Nal said.

“I wasn’t – ”

“You were, I could see it in your eyes,” Nal said.

Loki grinned. “Alright, maybe I was planning to start by trying the obvious first,” he confessed. “Do you like watching Bor get humiliated?”

“If I found that funny enough to laugh at I would have done it years ago by now,” Nal said.

“Alright, how do you feel about comedy shows?” Loki asked.

Nal rolled her eyes.

“I’m getting closer, I can feel it,” Loki said.

“I’m going to sleep, it’s been a long day, tomorrow will be another long day, Father may even wake up which is only going to make things more stressful, if you would like to join me in sleeping then you can indicate your willingness to do so by shutting your eyes and closing your mouth,” Nal said.

“I swear you are laughing at me right now on the inside,” Loki said.

Nal smiled. “Now you understand,” she said and snuggled deeper under his covers.


	27. Bye Bye Bye

Laufey walked down the steps to the dungeons flanked by two of his brothers. He was cleaned up and well dressed, and walked as though he had not spent the last sixty five years as a slave and personal whipping boy. Instead he walked back into the role of king’s advisor as though he’d never lost it.

It had not taken Raolr long to confirm that there was no such commonly used time spell on Vanaheim, and the council had voted to send an envoy to contact Nal as quickly as possible, Groupr had sent the message to King Bor already and was awaiting his reply.

Amora was sitting in the same dungeon that Raolr had been placed in. There was no way that was an accident; the spymaster had taken her trick extremely personally.

“You are slated to be executed for the murder of General Thrym, the manipulation of King Grundroth, and also his murder,” Laufey said the moment he arrived, “You made a lot of enemies.”

“Are you here to tell me that your takeover is complete and that you intend to let me go instead?” Amora asked him. The bitterness in her voice told him that she expected no such announcement.

“No, I’m going to Asgard shortly to inform Queen Nal that the time has come for her to take the throne of Jotunheim,” Laufey said. 

Amora let out a barking laugh. “I should have realised, shouldn’t I? The royalty in the nine realms have a history of marrying each other whenever they aren’t trying to kill one another. I thought that you weren’t infected with the same rotten thinking, but the whole of Yggdrasil is broken. She no more deserves the throne than – ”

“You?” Laufey suggested.

“I didn’t want it,” Amora said, “I wanted my reward for giving the power of Jotunheim back to its people.”

Laufey made a show of looking around the dungeon. “Looks like you have it,” he said.

“You are worse than pond scum,” Amora spat.

“I don’t know what that is, but I assume it isn’t well liked,” Laufey said, “But I don’t care about being liked by you, Nal is the only woman who matters.”

“Is her vagina made of sweets and precious jewels?” Amora asked sarcastically.

Laufey’s expression turned hard. “You are vulgar and crude and you always will be,” he said. “Even across realms I can tell a poorly raised whore. All you have is your quim and that’s just not good enough for people of good standing.”

Amora spat at him, but it missed its mark. Laufey turned and walked away. “I won’t be here when they kill you, but I’m sure it will be a fine sight for the rest of the court,” he said over his shoulder.

****

Amora waited until his footsteps faded, only then did her image waver and vanish, leaving behind an empty cell.

Far outside the gates of the palace, lurking quietly by the cargo crates awaiting pickup by routine traders, Amora smiled to herself and took a reassuring peek inside the small bag at her side.

Three hundred Jotun tears liberated from the royal vaults the day prior to Grundroth’s tragic demise, twinkled red in the dull light of Jotunheim.

“I may be crude but I am no fool, _Laufey_ ,” she said to herself.

There was a disturbance in the air and she looked up and watched as the trader ship arrived and came in to land. It took three hours to load the cargo and leave, taking Amora with it. Approximately one hour after that she allowed herself to be discovered weeping and weak from the cold, a brutalised prisoner of the wicked Jotun monsters, and so spent her first night aboard ship eating at the captain’s table and finding warmth in his bed.

The nine realms were a lost cause, at least for now, too caught up in their own petty feuds and traditions to handle real change. She resolved to strike out beyond them, establish herself among worlds that weren’t so stale and stagnant, and once she was powerful enough not to rely on other people she would return, and the nine realms of Yggdrasil would tremble to see her.

****

The sun had not yet risen when a servant knocked on Loki’s door. He and Nal both woke with identical frowns of confusion.

“This can’t be good,” Loki said and rose from the bed. 

He took the message from the servant and read it quickly. “I’ve been summoned,” he said with a groan, “By none other than the king himself.”

“Why?” Nal asked.

Loki shrugged, “He’s not the kind of man to put his wishes into writing when he can shout them at you. Should I come back to bed?”

“Are you trying to get banished?” Nal asked him, rubbing her eyes. 

“Oh all right, I shall go and see what he wants, it’s almost time to get up anyway,” Loki said.

“True, I’m going back to my rooms,” Nal said, “I don’t want to eat breakfast with you until Hela is gone from Asgard, you may not die but I can.”

“I doubt she’ll try again like that,” Loki said, “She never tries to kill me twice the same way.”

“Nevertheless, until Father wakes and everything is out in the open it would be best,” Nal said. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, “You could always come upstairs and join me after you speak to the king,” she suggested. 

Loki smiled, “A fine plan, I shall see you in a little while,” he promised.

Nal left his rooms and he began to pull on his clothes. Once properly dressed he picked up his eternal apple and tucked it into his pocket, before making his way toward the king’s office, curious in spite of himself as to what Bor could possibly want at such an early hour.

He was just walking down the corridor that led to his destination when Bor stepped out and approached him.

“Good morning,” Loki said.

“Still no bow,” Bor replied.

“Still no respect,” Loki assured him.

Bor smiled; it was not a nice smile. “I don’t need your respect,” he said.

“Good because I doubt you’ll ever have it,” Loki said. “What do you want?”

“I visited the Well of Mimir, a dangerous activity,” Bor said, “But I consider it worth the risk now that I know your secret.”

“Now, I swear it’s completely consensual,” Loki said, holding up his hands. 

Bor rolled his eyes, “I don’t care about whatever conquest you’ve made,” he snapped.

Loki paused. “Alright, I’m confused.”

“Hela killed you, poison that no living thing can escape, and yet back you came. I’ve seen you go down on the battlefield and have ‘miraculous’ escapes and yet I never wondered,” Bor said in a quiet, dangerous voice. “Odin has seen even more. You cannot die, Loki of Utgard, you will keep coming back forever and ever _until your purpose is fulfilled and you destroy Asgard and everyone in it._ ”

The voice was truly menacing now, Bor’s face was screwed up with rage, his eyes flashed a dangerous red.

Loki shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said.

“You are the God of Ragnarok,” Bor spat. “You are fated to destroy us, and that’s the only reason you ever came here, _traitor_.”

“Am I still a traitor if I never swore an oath of loyalty?” Loki asked.

Bor pulled out his weapon.

“You literally just said I couldn’t die,” Loki said, “Right then, I heard you myself.”

“You cannot die, but you can be inconvenienced,” Bor said. “There can be no Ragnarok without the god to trigger it.”

“Ah, banishment,” Loki said, “I hear you, no problem I’ve got places I want to visit anyway.”

“Not banishment,” Bor said as the doors in the corridor behind Loki opened and Hela and half a dozen of her personal guards walked out, weapons drawn. One of them was holding a magical-dampening device, preventing any spells from being cast in the immediate area. “No, you cannot be allowed to roam free.”

“Imprisonment, good choice, very popular,” Loki said.

“No,” Bor said in almost a whisper. “You will be taken to the execution yards and your head will be removed. Then your body will be burnt to ashes, the ashes collected and placed in _this._ ” Bor held up a small box that he’d been carrying in his other hand. It was decorated with a chaotic assortment of jewels and inscribed with powerful holding spells. 

“Your sweetbox!” Loki exclaimed.

“This box was strong enough to hold the Reality Stone, it can hold the ashes of a creature like you, and if you can’t reform, then you can’t place Sutur’s crown in the Eternal Flame, and Asgard will stand forever,” Bor said, grinning.

For the first time Loki looked uneasy. “I can’t say that disrupting the cycle sounds like a good idea, I mean, Yggdrasil made me for a reason,” he said.

“I would argue that Yggdrasil made _me_ to stop you,” Bor said, walking forwards slowly, as Hela and her men approached from behind. “I finally have you, trickster, I’ve finally won, and now I get to enjoy keeping you on my desk, in my sight, for the rest of my life.”

Loki was still staring at him in a mixture of disgust and shock when Hela swung her sword, slicing off his head from behind.

“Quickly, take the body down to the yard,” she said. “Sorcerer, gather the blood and anything else that has his biological material. Not a single cell can be allowed to escape the burning,” she ordered. 

The men hauled his body up and carried it away as Bor handed Hela the box. “You have the pyre ready?” he asked.

“Drenched in accelerant; the body will be ash in less than an hour, and the sorcerer has a spell to ensure every last piece of him will be gathered. In fact he’s already stripped Loki’s rooms bare of any biological material, he did it moments after the trickster left to come here,” Hela said. “Everything that makes up Loki of Asgard is on its way to being ash.”

Bor gave the sorcerer a nod of acknowledgement as he finished his spell, pulling all of Loki’s blood together to form a mass which hung in the air. The sorcerer gave a bow and headed down to the yard, casting his spell over and over again to pick up any drops which might escape from the body as it was transported by the guards.

Bor nodded at Hela. “Bring me the box when you are done,” he said, “And then kill the men, do it quietly, no one is ever to know what happened to him.”

Hela nodded with a smile as she took the box and headed down to the execution yard.

****

It was an hour past sunrise when Odin’s eyes opened. He felt strong again, and powerful. His sleep had been the longest yet, but it had done him good.

“How are you feeling?” asked Frigga, leaning over him with a smile, “The golden light just faded, I wasn’t sitting here staring at your closed eyelids,” she added.

“I didn’t want to assume,” Odin said in a voice that croaked. Frigga disappeared from his side and he pushed himself up as she returned with a glass of water.

“A lot of things have happened while you were sleeping,” she said, “I’m not the best person to fill you in but you will need to speak to the king very soon. No one you care about has been hurt though.”

Odin nodded. He would tell her about the ravens later, he was still marvelling himself at what he’d done while his body remained trapped in sleep.

“I will go and see him soon,” he said, “But not before I thank you, deeply, for staying and reading to me while I slept. You didn’t have to, but I appreciated it more than you know. It kept my mind from madness I’m sure of it.”

Frigga smiled at him warmly. “I wanted to do it,” she said, “I hated the thought of you lying there all alone.”

Odin wanted to ask her to marry him right then, but thoughts of the war crept back into his mind. Not to mention the loss of so many men to the True Men’s Alliance foolishness. He had to speak to his father, and quickly.

“I had better go,” he said, “But tonight will you have dinner with me? Just us? I’d quite like to spend some time with you where I get to talk back.”

She grinned and her cheeks blushed. “I’d like that,” she said.

****

Odin knocked on his father’s office door and waited to be bid entry. It did not take long, the moment Bor heard it was him he kicked out the Lord’s he’d been talking to and ushered Odin inside.

“It’s good to see you awake,” he said, “Are you feeling well?”

“Better than ever,” Odin said. “I heard that a lot has happened while I slept.”

“Your daughters did you credit,” Bor said, “Hela was her usual self, but the other three were quite courageous and took down a dangerous attack.”

“I heard,” Odin said. “The True Men are no more.”

“The trials will be held shortly,” Bor said, “And I’ll finally get to see Lord Elbin hang, I’ve been wanting to see that for centuries.”

Odin just gave a half-shrug. Lord Elbin had earned his punishment regardless of how anyone else felt about it.

“There is more,” Bor said, “Something very serious which I have to tell you. You and you alone shall know of what has happened, and only because one day you will be the king of this realm and will have to protect it as I have.”

Odin frowned. “What’s going on?” he asked.

Bor took a deep breath. “Loki of Utgard is gone,” he said. “I had him permanently removed.”

“What?!” Odin exclaimed, “Why?!”

“He was a traitor,” Bor said.

“Oh Father, really? He’s always been loyal to Asgard from the moment he set foot here,” Odin said.

“No he hasn’t, my son,” Bor said seriously. His tone was so quiet and assured that Odin stopped mid-temper to listen. “He was a spy, planted here to destroy us, I saw in the waters of the Well of Mimir myself his true nature.”

“That’s… that can’t be true,” Odin said.

Bor looked up at him with an eerie calm. “He saved your life once, and you swore brotherhood to him. For this reason I spared you any part of this,” he said. “But, my son, Loki was a god, a very different kind of god, the God of Ragnarok.”

Odin blinked. “Father… truly?”

“Truly. He was fated to destroy us, and I have stopped him. He will never again be a threat to us, at least I hope,” Bor said. “But you know what Ragnarok will do to Asgard, to our people. You must be ever vigilant against those who would try to bring it about.”

Odin sank back into his chair, a cold feeling sweeping over his heart. “The seers say that when Asgard falls, it will do so in fire and forces so great that there will be nothing left to salvage,” he said.

“They do, and so we have a duty to prevent this at all costs,” Bor said. “I know he was your friend, your… brother… and I know a betrayal like this hurts deeply. I swear to you, my son, on my own life and the lives of every Asgardian citizen, though I never liked him, I did not have him removed for personal gain. He was a threat, more serious than any other. Take what time you need to let your hurt fade, betrayal always stings, and he lied to you for two thousand years about why he was truly here. Your friendship, your brotherhood, everything was a lie. He was the great deceiver, and I am only relieved that we saw through it in time.”

Odin took a deep breath. “I… believe you, I do…” he said. “Of course you would not lie to me, but in two thousand years he never even _tried.”_

“We don’t know that,” Bor said. “He gained your trust and through it access to the Eternal Flame in our vaults. He left Asgard many times to go travelling, who knows how many times he went to Muspelheim to try and steal Sutur’s crown?”

Odin put his head in his hands. “I feel like such a fool,” he said.

“So do I,” Bor said, “I found him annoying, but I truly thought he was harmless. He has forged bonds with you, with your daughters, they see him as a member of their family. He was the perfect assassin, and his target was our dear realm.” 

“What has become of him? Death?” Odin asked.

Bor’s eyes flickered – lightning fast – to the box on his desk and back again. “He is no more,” he said.

Odin nodded, there were tears in his eyes. “I need time,” he said.

“I understand,” Bor said. “I do, I am sorry to bring you grief, but I did what I had to.”

Odin nodded. “I do not doubt it,” he said. 

Bor reached down and picked up a letter from the top of the pile on his desk. “If you want to take the day to…” he began and stopped.

“What is it?” Odin asked.

“It’s a letter from Jotunheim; King Grundroth is dead,” Bor said. 

“What?” Odin asked, “How?”

“It doesn’t say. They wish to visit us as soon as possible, to discuss the ascension of their new queen,” Bor continued. Delight filled his eyes as he looked up at Odin. “That has to be – ”

“Nal,” Odin said.


	28. Queen Nal

Nal finished dressing and looked at herself in the mirror with a sigh, another day of the minutia of realm management so that King Bor didn’t have to. Frankly she preferred it when he was out fighting in battles so that she could be left to handle everything by herself.

Clothes and hair perfect, she set off towards the king’s office, wondering when she’d find out what he’d wanted Loki for so early in the morning. 

She knocked out of politeness and was surprised when Odin opened the door.

“Nal,” he said, looking almost as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

“Father, I’m glad to see you awake,” she said.

“We were just going to send for you, come in, girl,” Bor said from within. 

Intrigued, Nal walked into the room. “You didn’t have to send for me, I always come here first thing to do the paperwork,” she said, fighting a sense of unease. Bor was looking pleased about something; Odin… wasn’t.

“What’s going on?” Nal asked, looking between them, “Where’s Loki?”

Bor blinked. “Loki? I don’t know,” he said.

Odin looked guilty but didn’t say anything.

“You summoned him early this morning,” Nal said.

“Someone put dye in my wine last night, made me piss red,” Bor said, “Naturally I assumed it was him. But that doesn’t matter, we have something to tell you, something that means good fortune for Asgard.”

Nal narrowed her eyes at Bor. It _did_ sound like something Loki would do, but he hadn’t mentioned it, not even when he’d gotten the summons.

“Nal, my daughter,” Odin said, catching her attention, “A message has come from Jotunheim.”

“Here,” Bor said, handing her a paper, “Read this.”

Nal read the message with growing horror. “Grundroth is dead,” she said, “How?” 

“We don’t know,” Odin said.

“He wasn’t a young man, but he wasn’t old enough to die of age, not yet,” Nal said, still staring at the paper as though it had personally insulted her, which, in a way, it had.

“They have requested permission to send an envoy to greet their new queen,” Bor said, grinning, “And I have accepted, they are due any minute.”

 _I need Loki, do either of you know where he is?_ Nal thought to her sisters frantically.

 _I’ll check all the usual places,_ Anima replied.

 _Don’t bother, I’ll scan for his soul and tell you where he is,_ Daianya jumped in.

“This is a wonderful day for Asgard,” Bor said. “Jotunheim has remained neutral in our war but that just means they traded with both of us, now Asgard will have a clear advantage.”

“I don’t want it,” Nal said.

Bor ignored her. “After the trade has been cancelled we can forge a military alliance as well, the Dwarfs will never be able to withstand the might of three realms at once,” he said.

Nal turned appealing eyes on to her father. “Father,” she said, “I don’t want this.”

Odin opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a knock on the door.

“The envoy from Jotunheim is here to speak to your Majesty,” announced Bor’s secretary.

“Show them in,” Bor said.

Nal’s eyes widened. “Father!” 

The door opened and General Groupr walked in, followed by Laufey; they were both dressed extremely formally.

“Welcome to Asgard,” Bor said with a broad smile, “I hope the journey was pleasant, the Dwarfs have been known to try and disrupt the Bifrost travel when they can, it leads to sickness upon arrival.”

“We experienced no discomfort,” Laufey said, giving Bor a polite bow. His eyes flickered to where Nal stood, still holding the paper that Groupr had sent only six hours before. “Your Majesty,” he said, bowing low to her.

Nal backed away from him in silent horror.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did King Grundroth die?” Odin asked, breaking the tension.

“Hunting accident,” Laufey said.

“Isn’t that how Hailstrum died too?” Bor asked.

“Yes it was,” Laufey confirmed. 

“Is this common, with your kings?” Odin asked, “Is my daughter going to be safe on Jotunheim?”

Laufey turned to face Nal. “Do you like hunting?” he asked her.

“No!” Nal exclaimed.

Laufey turned back to Odin, “She’ll be fine,” he said.

“I’m not going,” Nal said, “I don’t want to be queen.”

“With all my respect, your Majesty, you chose to be King Grundroth’s heir when you chose to enter and conquer the Cave of Kings,” Laufey said. “There is no one else.”

“You do it,” Nal snapped, “Go down into the Cave and take the throne. I don’t want it.”

“If that is your wish I shall do so immediately upon my return,” Laufey said, “I shall return your heir or die in my attempt, as will any man you choose to send.”

Nal just looked at him in horror as the weight of his words sank in. “Don’t,” she said softly, “Not unless you want to.”

Laufey bowed deeply. “I want to serve my queen,” he said.

“Would you two be so kind as to wait in the antechamber while my granddaughter and I discuss her new role?” Bor asked.

They were ushered out by his secretary. The moment the door closed Bor turned to Nal with a glare. “You will stop being so difficult right now,” he ordered, “The throne is yours, you will take it, do you not understand how important this could be to us strategically?”

Nal’s face went pinched and cold. “I ended up the heir to get myself out of a marriage I didn’t want, I never had any intention of taking the throne,” she said.

Bor took a deep breath. “You leave me no choice, you silly child,” he said. “Nal Odinsdottir, I banish you from Asgard for the remainder of your life. You may never set foot on this realm again.”

Nal clenched her hands into fists in anger.

“Of course, the Queen of Jotunheim will always be welcome at official functions,” Bor continued, still glaring at her.

Nal turned in mute appeal to Odin, silently begging him to say something, anything.

Odin looked back and forth between his daughter and his father. “Nal,” he said, “You have to understand Asgard is weakened right now, the True Men’s massacre took out a lot of warriors who could still be trained, the Dwarven traps use Jotunheim steel for a lot of their components – ”

“You promised,” Nal said, cutting him off. “You promised me I’d always have a home in Asgard.”

“Not his promise to make,” Bor said curtly.

Odin flinched, “It’s best for the nine realms,” he said.

Nal’s face shut down. Her look of betrayal vanished into blank stone. “I will never forgive you,” she said to Odin. “You are a liar and a promise-breaker. You cannot be trusted.”

She turned and walked out, slamming the door being her. The hinges shattered from sudden cold and the door collapsed to the floor where it too broke into pieces.

“Good thing Jotunheim’s made of ice,” Bor said, “Otherwise with her temper the whole palace would come down within weeks.”

Odin looked down at the door and tried to push down the guilt he felt at the memory of her face.

****

 _Where is Loki?_ Nal asked as she stormed down the stairs, through the corridors and out to the gardens. She needed the greenery around her to calm her frantically beating heart.

 _I can’t find him,_ Daianya thought, _I’ve looked all over Asgard and he isn’t here._

Nal arrived at her Home’s Shelter tree and pushed aside the curtain, letting herself inside. A moment later Anima and Daianya pushed open the curtain and looked in.

“This is horrible,” Anima said.

“He’s not on Asgard?” Nal asked. “Bor wanted him this morning, made up some lie about dye in his wine.”

“Maybe he’s been sent on a secret mission instead,” Anima suggested, “Father was there, it’s the sort of thing he’d volunteer Loki for.”

“Maybe,” Nal said softly, “I wanted to talk to Fa– Odin about Loki and me, but it seems that conversation got derailed. I guess I have my answer though, he wouldn’t fight for me. It wasn’t that he had to succeed, just put up a fight, and he wouldn’t even do that!”

“I’ll check out across the universe and see where he is,” Daianya said, “It might take a while though, the universe is big and I don’t have a starting point.”

“Try Dwarven inhabited places first,” Anima suggested, “If it is a secret mission of some kind it probably has to do with the war. In the meantime, Nal, you don’t have to go to Jotunheim if you don’t want to, you can go to Alfheim and stay with Uncle Vé, or out to the stars, I’ll fetch you some gold and other things of value from the vault, the King won’t miss it.”

Nal pulled her legs up and hugged them tightly. “I can’t,” she said. “I want to, but I can’t.”

“Jotunheim will be fine without you,” Daianya said.

“The last time Jotunheim had no king, it fell to civil war,” Nal said. “Grandmother told me all about it when I was young, she told me all her stories, and that one was only solved when a new king was _made._ He had to be born and then grow up and then conquer the Cave before the fighting stopped. Thousands died.”

“Maybe it won’t be forever, just until someone new conquers the Cave?” Daianya suggested, glancing across at Anima, who was looking sympathetic.

“I hope so,” Nal said, “I just wish Loki was here, he’d at least be someone I can trust. Right now I’ve met about three people from the Jotun court and I know no one.” She looked up at her sisters, showing her rarely seen vulnerability. “I’m scared,” she confessed.

“I’ll find him, and when I do, Anima will deliver a message to him to join you on Jotunheim,” Daianya said.

“Maybe Bor killed him,” Nal said. “He can be killed you know, he just doesn’t stay dead.”

“I can check Valhalla and see if his soul is waiting there?” Daianya offered.

“Check everywhere,” Nal said, “I don’t want to do this without him.”

“You can though,” Anima said, reaching forwards and placing her hand on top of Nal’s. “I’m a hundred years old, sister, and in mortal terms that makes me wise, so heed my words. You are as clever as Father, as wise as Grandmother, and – if the stories are anything to go by – as fierce as Mother. In addition to all that you are kind, kind enough to care about the people of a realm you never wanted to even visit, let alone rule. Whatever you decide, however long you stay there, you will not only survive, but thrive.”

Nal looked very deliberately down at Anima’s hand, then slowly back up into her eyes. Daianya’s head turned to look at Anima at the same time.

“I’m going to miss you,” Nal said and drew Anima into a hug.

A moment later Daianya joined them.

Anima smiled. “Things can’t stay the same forever,” she said, “Otherwise what purpose would time have?”

****

Nal left the garden and went up to her room. Once there she scanned her possessions with narrowed eyes.

Those dresses would have to stay, they’d fall apart in days from Jotunheim’s cold; the shoes too, far too flimsy for endless snow, her books, her makeup, her hair pieces.

Her plants

In fact, Nal realised as she looked around, there was nothing in her room that would survive more than a year at best, other than her metal jewellery, but she rarely wore any, only the pendant on her necklace, and she already had that on.

She looked up above her head. Her carvings had slowly taken over her room as the years passed by. The wooden dome above her head was covered with carvings of vines and flowers. Nal looked it over carefully, trying to fix the image in her mind so that she wouldn’t forget it.

Then she turned and walked away, down the stairs one by one, to the ground floor and across to the guest reception rooms where, she guess correctly, General Groupr and Laufey had been sent to wait.

“Let’s go,” she said without preamble as she found them in the second best reception room.

They both stood up hurriedly. 

“Your Majesty, do you have any bags I can carry – ” Laufey started to ask.

“No, nothing,” Nal said, “I will need clothes more suited to Jotunheim once I arrive, I trust that can be arranged?”

“Yes of course, I have a brother who was born to be a perfectionist and a master with his hands, so that Mother could always have perfectly tailored clothing,” Laufey said, “He will be flattered and pleased to be of use again.”

“Should we not make our farewells to the King?” Groupr asked, a little nervously.

“Why? He knows I’m leaving,” Nal said. “Let’s just go.”

They walked outside to where the flyers were waiting and Nal glared at the driver until he cowered.

“The Bifrost,” she said.

Less than an hour after they had arrived, General Groupr and Laufey returned home with their new queen.

****

Bor and Odin were still discussing the matter when Bor’s secretary knocked on his door.

“What is it now?” Bor asked.

“Princess Nal, I mean, Queen Nal, has left Asgard for Jotunheim,” he said. “The Bifrost operator just sent in a report.”

Odin blinked in surprise and turned to look at Bor, who gave a sigh of relief. “I knew she’d come around. She’s quick to anger but she always does the right thing,” he said. “We’ll give her a day to settle in and then I’ll send an envoy of my own.”

“She didn’t say goodbye,” Odin said.

“Temper,” Bor said dismissively, “She’ll write to you once she’s calmed down.”

Odin looked down at his hands and looked sceptical. “It really was for the best,” he said, “The war needs to be won as quickly as possible.”

“And now it will be,” Bor said.

“I had hoped for one more chance to speak to her,” Odin said. “I did promise her, you know, years ago. I just never foresaw a situation quite like this.”

“That’s why promises should never be given out freely,” Bor said. “You promised Loki brotherhood and he turned out to be a traitor and a liar, you promised Nal a home but Eitri makes that impossible. You’ll be a good king one day, my son, but you have to remember to think like one always, even when emotions are involved.”

Odin looked away from him, out the window, until he realised that the garden he was looking down at had been designed by Nal and hastily turned his head back.

All the gardens had been designed by Nal. Would he ever be able to walk through them again without feeling guilty?

****

Daianya stood by Anima in silence. Neither had much they wanted to say.

“I’ll keep looking for Loki,” Daianya said, “Even if he’s been killed his soul has to be out there somewhere. If I find it I can keep an eye on it and know when he gets back to being alive again.”

“She’ll be alright,” Anima said, “Although she’ll be better with him by her side.”

Daianya nodded. “I’m leaving too in less than an hour, my squad is on the next ship out.”

“Go and say goodbye to Tarah then,” Anima said.

Daianya hugged her hard. “I’ll keep an eye on you too, you know,” she said.

“People see you as a fairly passive goddess, but secretly, I think you’re the scariest of us all,” Anima said.

Daianya rolled her eyes and forced a smile onto her face. “I think this war has wasted time that would have been better spent doing literally anything else, and I think Father is about to find that out,” she said.

“Take care of yourself out there,” Anima said, “I’m going upstairs to finish writing my notes on that cuff of Eitri’s.”

She vanished in a flash of light, leaving Daianya to walk back to the barracks, where she found Tarah waiting.

“I packed your bag, you hadn’t even started, that’s not like you at all,” Tarah said, fastening the clasps.

“No, I’ve been quite preoccupied these last few days,” Daianya said, “And I think I shall be preoccupied for a few more at least.”

“Just the thing I want to hear with you going back into battle,” Tarah said, “You listen to me, I can’t be there to watch your back anymore, so you have to stay focussed on what’s in front of you. Whatever happened, you need to stay safe and come back to me.”

Daianya pulled her into a hug. “I promise,” she said.

“I’ve never been afraid of battle before,” Tarah confessed, “It turns out the only ones I’m afraid of are the ones I’m not in.”

“I’ll write and record messages to you every day,” Daianya promised.

“I’ll be here, worrying myself sick,” Tarah said.

Daianya squeezed her even tighter. “Things are changing,” she said, “Maybe it will mean good things for peace.”

“I doubt it, the King still sounds very certain,” Tarah said.

“Nal has just been made the new queen of Jotunheim,” Daianya said, “She’s already left Asgard.”

“What?”

“I told you I was preoccupied, well, this is one of the things that is taking up my attention,” Daianya said, “Plus everything that happened with the True Men, but mostly this – and a few other things – but everything is about to change and I _know_ Eitri is still hoping for peace.”

“I hope you’re right,” Tarah said.

****

The ship took off forty minutes later. Tarah stood by the launch pad and watched it until it vanished from sight among the clouds.


	29. Sinners and Punishment

Bor spent the day presiding over the surviving members of the True Men’s Alliance. The result was a forgone conclusion, as treason only had one punishment and what they had done couldn’t be argued to be anything else.

One by one he sentenced them to death, and one by one they were escorted, or in some cases dragged, out to the execution yards, where Hela waited with an axe and a grin.

She was splattered with blood after the first few hours when Bor called a break so that he could refresh himself and have something to eat.

“This is _glorious,”_ Hela said, “I wish more people had survived the initial night so that I could have the pleasure of killing them now.” She caught sight of Odin’s querying look. “Of course what matters is justice,” she added quickly.

“Go and clean up so you can join us,” Odin told her.

****

Lunch was a small affair. Nal and Daianya were gone; Anima was up in her room working on her own projects with burning determination. The arrival of Frigga was like a breath of fresh air. Odin could almost feel his heart softening at the sight of her, which he felt was sorely needed after the parade of traitors he’d watched that morning.

“Lord Catren is due to stand trial after lunch. He’s hired a law expert to argue for him,” Bor said.

“Does he have a chance?” Odin asked.

Bor just laughed. “Unless he can somehow prove he was under a spell he’s going down along with everyone else,” he said.

“What’s the likelihood that he will argue that?” Frigga asked.

“Dunno,” Bor said, “But we’ve got our own sorcerer that can disprove anything he comes up with. If he tries it I’ll call Anima down here and destroy him.”

“Pity Daianya has already gone, no one can lie to her, he wouldn’t even get a chance to try it,” Odin said.

“I could have held her back but she’s an asset out there in battle, plus I want her to have more experience, she’ll make a good leader one day, especially with General Solveig teaching her,” Bor said.

“You plan to make her a General?” Hela asked.

Bor glanced at her. “She’s got the brains for it, and the courage,” he said.

“I want to get back out there too,” Hela said, “Eitri and I have unfinished business.”

“Once the trials are over I’ll be sending you out there to track him down,” Bor said, “I want his head on a spike.”

Odin bit his lip rather than rehash the same arguments again, he looked up and saw Frigga was doing something similar. They made eye contact and he shot her a resigned expression. She smiled at him sympathetically.

“I’ll bring it to you,” Hela promised. “I’ve got ideas on how to get past that weapon of his.”

****

Lord Catren had indeed hired a law expert, although it was clear from the man’s face that he had taken the job for the money. He did his best to argue that Lord Catren’s heart was in the right place, that he’d never actually done anything to the princesses given that they attacked him, that mercy ought to be given due to the amount of charity and support Lord Catren had given the crown over the centuries… but it all came to nothing. King Bor sat impassively on his throne and waited until the final speeches were done, then he said. “Guilty. Penalty is death. Your assets will be passed down to your remaining descendant, your daughter Myia, and you will be buried along with the others in a mass grave well outside the city, unless she wants to claim your body?”

He looked across the room to where Myia sat. She had come in quietly as the court reassembled after lunch and had sat staring down at her father the entire time his law expert had spoken. Lord Catren looked up, seeing her there for the first time.

“No,” she said, “He can rot with the men he prefers.”

His face changed to one of anger, almost as though he forgot that he was on trial and in chains. “You useless child,” he spat.

Myia’s face broke into a slow smile. “I’ll even have his name removed from the family record books if your Majesty desires,” she said, “No future descendent should know it anyway.”

Lord Catren was dragged from the hall and out to where Hela was waiting with a look of shock on his face, but he was speechless, unable to wrap his head around what was happening until the moment before the axe fell. His scream of fear was cut off abruptly and the people in the hall all turned to look at the king.

“You do as you see fit, _Lady_ Myia,” Bor said before turning to the next man on trial.

****

Nal stood in her new royal chambers. They were made of ice. Everything was made of ice. The entire palace was just shaped ice, and not all of it very nicely either.

There were new clothes already being made. New furniture had been shaped… of ice, more suited to her size than the towering Grundroth.

The only piece that had been left large enough to hold a more typically sized Jotun was the bed, which Nal suspected was a combination of hope and hint.

She made her way to Grundroth’s – now her – office and sat down at the newly lowered desk.

“I have a lot of reading and learning to do,” she said to Laufey, who had been hovering over her like a nanny since her arrival.

“I have written a summary of all the key areas in which the King usually takes an interest,” he said, gesturing to a stack of parchment on the desk. Jotun paper was made of animal skin, and was thicker and more durable than the thin stuff on Asgard.

Everything was so different.

“Are there any men who want to try the Cave?” Nal asked.

“None have expressed a desire, your Majesty,” Laufey said.

Nal suppressed a sigh.

_Has anyone found Loki yet?_ she asked her sisters.

_I’m looking every chance I get, but he’s not in Valhalla, nor any of the other spiritual realms that I can see. I’m back checking the physical universe now,_ Daianya answered.

_He hasn’t turned up on Asgard yet,_ Anima thought, sounding distracted.

“Thank you for the summary, Laufey, I would like to be left alone for a while as I read it,” Nal said.

He gave her a deep bow and left her. Nal sighed heavily. Loki’s absence was worrying. He said he couldn’t die, and he certainly seemed to believe it, but then where had he gone? Where was his soul? What had become of his body? 

Why did she have to do this alone?

Nal grabbed the parchment and started reading, trying to concentrate on her new role and forget that she was sitting on a chair of ice, in a room of ice, in a palace of ice, in a realm… of fucking ice.

Were there any flowers that even bloomed on Jotunheim? Surely even the coldest realm had _some_ plants that had evolved to grow there?

She missed her gardens already.

“Laufey?” she called, knowing that he would still be outside the door.

He appeared almost immediately.

“Yes, your Majesty?” he asked.

“When is Grundroth’s funeral?” she asked.

“In two days, your Majesty, it is tradition that you attend,” he said.

“I suspected as such,” Nal said, “Do I have to do anything?”

“Just witness it, your Majesty,” Laufey said.

Nal tried not to pull a face. “Do you miss him?” she asked, “You were a favourite of his, weren’t you?”

Laufey’s face went carefully still. Nal noticed but pretended not to, only watched closely as he said “I was indeed very favoured by him, although as time went on I disagreed with some of his choices. I do not think he will be missed as much as some other kings.”

Nal stared at him for a long time, long enough for him to start shivering. His expression became confused and he wrapped his arms around himself. “Forgive me, your Majesty, I think I am becoming ill,” he said, “I feel all strange, like I was back in the Cave of Kings.”

“Cold,” Nal said, “You are feeling cold.” He looked up into her hard eyes and flinched. “You will tell me the plain truth, Laufey, not a carefully worded one,” she said.

“He blamed me for losing you in the Cave,” Laufey said as his teeth began to chatter, “I was punished with slavery and only became free when he died.”

Nal blinked and the room warmed back up to its usual freezing. “What?” she said.

“Grundroth was obsessed with having you,” Laufey said, “When he lost his bet with you he blamed me. I suffered at his hands for failing to return you to the surface.”

Nal’s face curled up into a sneer. “I had no idea he was so…”

“Petty? Vindictive? Small minded prick?” Laufey suggested.

“Cruel,” Nal said softly, taking him aback. “I am so sorry that you suffered for my sake. Had I known I would have at least tried to help you.”

“You’re here,” Laufey said, “He’s dead, and no one else thought I deserved it so they released me the moment he was gone. I can put it behind me.”

Nal nodded slowly. “I am glad to hear it, but I am still sorry it happened.”

Laufey stepped forward until he was by her side, then knelt down, bringing his head and hers to the same height. “I suspected you would be a better ruler than him,” he said, “And now I know you will be.”

Nal’s expression didn’t change, but on the inside she wanted to cry.

****

Anima carefully wrote out the instructions for activating the cuff. The spell itself was extremely complicated, but the cuff did all the work, allowing anyone to activate it as long as they provided the blood and closed the cuff over their target before the cells in it fully died.

She set aside the instructions along with the cuff and pulled her work on the regeneration spell closer to her. It wasn’t anywhere near finished. She sighed heavily and reached into a cage on her desk, pulling out a sleeping rat with only one leg. It had been quite hard to find, animals with injuries as severe as that usually died. 

She concentrated and the magic in the air shimmered in her vision. She could see the ghost of the leg where it used to be. She moved her hands back and forth, guiding the magic to form new strings of numbers around her, trying to get it to act on the physical world in the way she wanted.

There was a knock on the door and Anima pulled a face, shaking the magic out of her vision.

“Who is it?” she called.

“Arnet, your Grace, I have been sent with a message from the King.”

Anima rolled her eyes and put the rat back in its cage. She opened the door and forced a smile as the servant handed over the message.

“Oh,” she said, reading it over, “I suppose that makes sense. Thank you, Arnet.”

Bor wanted her in the hall for the trial of the surviving sorcerers, in order to properly describe their crimes. She concentrated and teleported to the hall, making a few people near her jump in surprise.

Bor saw her and gave her a quick nod; he was just sentencing one of the lords involved.

Anima waited until the lord had been dragged out, screaming for mercy, before stepping forwards and taking a seat at Bor’s side.

“You look tired,” Odin said from Bor’s other side, “Are you sleeping well?”

“No,” Anima said, “I’ve had a lot to do, and with the war ongoing there is not enough time to do it all.”

“The Valkyrie took the last of the healing runes with them; after the trials you’ll need to build them back up,” Odin said, “So make sure you get some rest tonight, anything else you are working on can wait for a bit.”

Anima turned away from him without saying anything. She wasn’t feeling particularly kind when it came to her father, not after he broke his promise to Nal. 

“Where’s Hela?” she asked.

“Executing the guilty,” Bor said as the sorcerers were dragged in. They had heavy chains around their wrists, ankles and waists which blocked any attempts to call on magic.

“She must be having fun,” Anima said.

“It is a necessary duty,” Odin said.

“Still convincing yourself of that?” Anima shot back.

Odin went to open his mouth but Bor made a noise of frustration and spoke loudly across the room. “Sorcerers Malnith, Rondyr, Bjornson, you stand trial for the crime of assisting the True Men in an attempt to massacre the Princesses, several lords and ladies, and the Valkyrie by creating a sleeping spell to ensure that they were rendered helpless. How do you plead?”

Anima looked down at them; they all looked terrified and, frankly, pathetic.

“N-n-n-not guilty,” squeaked one of them, “I was forced to give power to others, I never cast the spell.”

Anima snapped her fingers, mostly for effect, the spell would have worked without any visual aids but other people were more likely to believe something was happening if the caster made a gesture of some kind. The man’s mouth snapped shut.

“He’s lying,” she said, “That type of spell requires full knowledge and participation of what is being cast.”

The man was looking extremely distressed as Bor nodded firmly. “I find you all guilty and sentence you to be executed,” he said. “Take them outside and see that it’s done.”

Anima turned to him as the sorcerers were dragged out. “May I go, your Majesty? I have a lot of work to get back to.”

“You should rest,” Odin said again, “The war – ”

“Will you ever care about anything else, do you think?” Anima asked, “Will you ever stop and realise that ‘the war’ is nought but a battle in a much larger conflict, one that you are losing?”

She vanished before he could reply and appeared back in her room. 

****

Daianya scanned the universe, eyes wide and glowing orange, trying to see Loki’s soul somewhere among the stars. No matter how hard she looked she couldn’t find him, which was ridiculous, he _had_ a soul, she had seen it attached to his body every time she’d seen him, but now that she was trying to seek it, it had vanished.

“Daianya, we’re here,” said a voice.

Daianya blinked and came back to herself. Their ship had reached the Vinos system and was approaching the Asgardian base which, according to the stolen plans, Eitri’s army was planning to attack within hours.

Daianya sighed and pulled on her uniform, reluctantly letting the search for Loki go for now. Concentrating on not dying was far more important. As Loki had said himself, it wasn’t as though he could stay dead, he would turn up.

It was suspicious that she couldn’t see his soul though, but perhaps he truly had been sent on some kind of convert mission and had found a way to hide himself even from her powers.

Had Eitri ever invented a soul-finder? If so then of course Loki would shield himself. No doubt he would turn up back in Asgard soon, then yell at Odin a great deal before leaving for Jotunheim.

She made her way to the hold where the Pegasi were waiting and found her mount.

“The Dwarfs are already attacking, prepare to join the battle,” called out General Solveig over the speaker. Daianya sighed and drew her sword. This whole war was pointless, this battle even more so because Hela wasn’t even here.

The ship landed with a shudder and the bay doors opened. Daianya tightened her grip on her reins and forced herself to focus. The call to charge came and she rode out, determined only to keep her fellow Valkyrie safe as much as possible. 

****

Hela washed the blood off her body after a long day. She was surprised she wasn’t glowing from the feeling of power that ending so many lives gave her, and they had only just finished getting through those caught at the scene. Tomorrow the trials would begin for those caught _planning_ the attack but not actually participating, including Lord Elbin himself. Hela had gone with a simple beheading for the men today, but she intended to get creative when it came to the head of the organisation.

Washed and dressed, she made her way up to Bor’s office in a good mood. He’d asked to see her after they were done for the day and she didn’t want to keep him waiting.

His secretary let her in and left them alone.

“Hela, good work today,” Bor said. He was seated behind his desk and was absentmindedly moving the jewels on Loki’s box back and forth.

“He’s not going to get out, is he?” Hela asked.

Bor glanced down at what he was doing and shook his head. “The sequence is very complicated, a few shuffled jewels here and there aren’t going to do anything,” he said, smiling at the thought of Loki’s predicament. “I asked you here to update you on important developments.”

Hela nodded attentively, every inch the loyal subject.

“Nal has been made ruler of Jotunheim, she left Asgard earlier today,” Bor said.

Hela blinked. “Just like that?” she asked.

“They have a strange way of doing things, but who are we to argue when it works so well to our advantage?” Bor asked. “I knew you were busy all day and you aren’t one for gossip, so I thought I had better tell you myself. She will keep Jotunheim on our side, and the combined might of three realms will eliminate the Dwarf threat quickly. We may have peace within the year.”

Hela nodded “And Eitri?” She asked.

Bor pulled a face. “I want him dead,” he said. “And no doubt it will happen, either by my blade, or yours.”

Hela smiled, basking in his approval. 

“It must feel gratifying to know that two of your granddaughters will become rulers of the nine realms,” she said. 

“It is,” Bor said.

“Perhaps even three,” Hela said. “Someone will have to keep the Dwarfs in line once they have been conquered.”

“Are you volunteering?” Bor asked.

Hela frowned slightly, “Well no, but Daianya is available, she’s… capable, she’ll have Asgard’s support. Or you could betroth her to Dorgen, he’s a little young for her but that can work in our favour, once he’s old enough to take the Vanir throne she’ll have already been there long enough that she could retain power while he signs whatever she decides.” Bor was looking at her strangely; Hela stopped talking about her ideas and returned his puzzled look. “Is something wrong, your Majesty?” she asked.

“Do you truly believe that you are right for the throne of Asgard?” Bor asked her.

Hela paused in surprise. “I am Father’s eldest, it is mine by right,” she said.

“But are you the _best_ ruler. Asgard is the most powerful realm of Yggdrasil, it requires a level of leadership well above that which the other realms can manage with – I mean, look at Midgard, they don’t even have a ruler – but Asgard requires a much steadier hand. Odin I have no concerns about, but you Hela? If anything the war has made you more impulsive, more rash. You did well in the fight against the True Men, but even then I have read the reports, Daianya organised the Valkyrie to raid the home of Lord Elbin, Nal interrogated the survivors to obtain the locations of their allies, you simply killed until you ran out of men to kill. Wouldn’t you be happier as the chief executioner and enforcer? Do you really _want_ to do all this tedious paperwork?”

Hela was baffled. “It’s my right,” she repeated. “I am Father’s heir.”

“I have changed the law to allow Odin to choose his own heir,” Bor said, gesturing to a paper in front of him. “I signed it into law this evening. I, of course, shall be long gone by the time this becomes an issue, but he will choose sensibly and for the good of Asgard. If you truly believe that you will make the best ruler after him, I suggest you work harder on your impulse control. I live for battle myself, but even I know when to sit and do the paperwork.”

Hela didn’t scream, she didn’t yell, she didn’t throw things, or curse his name. Instead she forced a look of acceptance onto her face and nodded graciously. “I understand, your Majesty, I assure you,” she said. “I will work harder to show Father – and yourself of course – that I will be the best choice for Asgard’s future.”

Bor nodded. “I know it seems harsh, but rulers have to make harsh choices,” he said.

“I assure you, I do see that,” Hela said. “Look it’s almost time for the feast, shall we go down?”

Bor nodded and rose. “You are taking this well,” he said.

Hela smiled. “I intend to be Asgard’s next ruler after Father, if this is the way I prove myself then so it must be,” she said.

She sat through the feast with the same, slight smile on her face all evening. She kept it on as she listened, along with Bor and Odin, to the reports of how the battle on Vinos went, it remained in place as she heard that Daianya had made it through unharmed and was heading out to the next system along with the rest of the Valkyrie. She was still smiling as she headed up to her rooms, past the servants bustling about, and closed the door behind her.

Only then did the smile fall, leaving behind a look of quiet, and deadly, rage.

How _dare_ he? How dare he just… remove her right as firstborn? With the stroke of a pen? That _bastard._

She let out a scream of rage and threw a wave of death at her wall. It cracked and some of the stone began to crumble as it aged rapidly.

Hela stared at the result. She ought to bring the palace down on his head. She was the rightful heir! Odin’s first child! 

The law was signed, no doubt it was already being filed in the archives and thus destroying it was impossible. 

Hela let out a noise of frustration and threw herself onto her bed, mind whirling.

Nal was gone and Odin wouldn’t call her back, not now that she was in charge of Jotunheim.

Hela did smile at that. Nal hated a world without gardens, served her right for being so bloody _clever_ all the time. Anima would never make a good ruler, the magic was impressive but she hated being in charge of anything. 

No, the competition, as it always had been, was Daianya. Daianya who was out fighting on the battlefield, Daianya who survived the most recent battle but might not survive another.

At least, not if Hela had anything to do with it.

But if Daianya died in battle then Odin would want to know how, and the Valkyrie were very, very good at investigating battle wounds, they did care for the dead after all.

And then there was Frigga. Odin clearly loved her, even Hela could see that and she was normally blind to the courtships going on all around her. If they had another child…

That was too many people, at least, too many all at once. 

And with Bor whispering in his ear he was bound to be turned against her in time. Are you _sure_ being queen would make you happy? Ha! YES. OBVIOUSLY. 

Hela rolled over, teeth gritted in anger and frustration. There had to be a way to ensure that Odin never took advantage of that law. 

Or maybe he should? Odin still believed in her; he always had. Surely Hela could use this to her advantage? Make him declare her his heir by law the moment he became king? 

Seems like he ought to become king as quickly as possible then.

Hela’s smile returned to her face, only this time it was genuine.

And terrifying


	30. Drawing a Line

Nal woke on the morning of her second day as Queen and stared at the ceiling far above her head. It was made of ice. 

In a sudden fit of annoyance she sent a wave of power out from where she was lying and the ceiling transformed into a canopy of flowering vines, carved across the entire breadth. 

She sat up and glared at the rest of the room. The walls became garden scenes, trees rose from the floor and flowers and butterflies appeared, their wings so thin that light could be seen through them.

Nal looked around herself and sighed. It was nothing like the real thing. No colour, no scent, even the wooden carvings she’d made over the last century had felt more real than this.

But it was the best she could do with what was available to her. At least her eyes were adjusting better now that she’d been there a while, and what had looked like flat shades of blue ice had taken on new depths of colour.

She crawled to the edge of the bed and climbed off. It was made up with thick furs which did their best to hide the hard ice beneath. There was no water on Jotunheim that wasn’t solid, so she rubbed her skin down with the cloths provided and pulled on one of her new dresses. 

Laufey’s brother had done good work, but Jotun fashion tended towards very little whereas Nal was used to having more material covering her skin. Clearly the man had taken note of this and his compromise was a gown with areas cut out of it, leaving her stomach and back mostly exposed, as well as her legs up to the thigh on either side as the skirt was made from two pieces of overlapping fabric. Nal sucked in a slow breath. She’d have to get used to it, the same way she would have to get used to being surrounded by men who thought adding metal embellishments to their loincloths was being fancy.

Everything was so different. After a lifetime of always being watchful, always being careful, always fitting in as best she could, having to throw out her entire knowledge base was difficult and painful.

If only Loki were here, he’d make her smile at least.

Nal tried to look calm, accepting, and in control. Daianya had survived her battle and was once again heading to a new system. She would look again for Loki as soon as she was able.

Nal went to the window and looked out. The view was of the rear of the palace, and consisted entirely of snow.

“How could Grandmother have missed this?” Nal wondered softly to herself. “How could anyone think this is better than the forests of Asgard?”

Homesickness hit her hard and she bit her lip as her eyes stung badly. She wanted to cry but the pain stopped her. More than anything she wished her grandmother was still alive to talk to. Surely she’d have advice, a story, _something?_

It occurred to her that Bestla’s sister was still alive, but Nal had never even spoken to her. The thought of asking her for advice felt wrong, but there was someone else her Grandmother had always said was clever and wise, what if – ?” 

There was a knock at the door and Nal flinched.

“Come in,” she called out, trying not to sound bitter.

It was Laufey, her most determined shadow.

“I brought your breakfast, your Majesty,” he said.

“You are not a servant, Laufey, you do not have to do that,” Nal said.

“It is no burden, especially as I needed to ask you whether you had any questions about my notes,” Laufey said.

“No, it was very comprehensive. No doubt some points of clarification will be required at some point though, as I encounter them,” Nal said.

Laufey set the tray down on the table and gave her a respectful bow. “Grundroth’s funeral is scheduled for mid-morning, and after that there is a briefing with General Groupr and Spymaster Raolr,” he said. “Do you need anything right now?”

“No – Yes, actually, I want to send a letter to someone. Can I have some parchment and ink, and can you arrange for it to be taken when I’m done?” Nal asked.

Laufey bowed. “I will bring you some at once,” he said, “And I will be honoured to deliver it to the Bifrost for you.”

“It’s not going to the Bifrost,” Nal said.

Laufey looked up with a puzzled expression. “Where is it to go?” he asked.

“Utgard.”

****

Anima yawned and stretched. Last night had been another late one, trying to figure out the best way to make someone’s leg regrow, and she’d had other important things to work out, although most of it was done by now. 

She threw back her covers and climbed out of bed. Odin wanted her to make more runes today too but she wasn’t going to. She had more important things to work on.

She sat down still in her nightgown and set back to work, shaking the sleep from her brain with an effort. Wasn’t Lord Elbin’s trial today? Or was that tomorrow? She couldn’t remember, but chances were they would want her there for truth spells and other such things. 

“Stupid True Men, getting in the way of my plans,” she muttered.

She was utterly absorbed in her work when breakfast arrived and didn’t even look up as Arnet set the tray down.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, still looking down. 

He gave her a bow which she completely missed and left her alone. 

Four hours later she finally stretched and remembered that she’d better shower and dress. She ate a cold piece of toast and went to wash, still thinking about her work.

The gown she pulled on was crumpled but at least it was clean. She gathered up her notes on regeneration and headed down to the healers’ wing. She wanted to consult with Eir, as she strongly suspected that any spell she came up with that would actually be useful would also be beyond the majority of healers. Eir should be able to manage it though.

Eir was working hard at making runes when Anima arrived. So was Frigga, who looked up and gave her a warm smile. Anima returned it, Frigga was easy to like and a perfect fit for Odin, she would help keep him grounded in the things that actually mattered, like family, instead of war and strategy.

“How are you today?” Anima asked her.

“Well, thank you. I received a letter from my mother last night and my brother has been sent home for a few weeks for rest,” Frigga said. “I was thinking of going to visit them for a week, now that things have quietened back down on Asgard.”

“How long has it been since you last went to Vanaheim?” Anima asked.

“Twenty years,” Frigga said, pulling a guilty face, “I never meant for it to be so long but I’ve been kept so busy every day with the war effort that time just slipped away.”

“It does that,” Anima said, “Believe me, I understand.”

Beside Frigga was another woman who Anima vaguely recognised as the newly-made Lady Myia. She was carefully inscribing the simplest healing rune onto a stone. Her progress was incredibly slow and it was obvious that she was still learning.

“Lady Myia,” Anima greeted politely.

Myia looked up and quickly gave her a bow. “Your Grace,” she said.

“You have begun healer’s studies?” Anima asked.

“Only today, but I intend to make it my life’s work,” Myia said.

Anima nodded. “I’m sure you will be great at it,” she said.

She turned and walked over to Eir, who was creating runes almost as fast as Anima herself could.

“You’ve really advanced,” Anima said.

“It’s so easy now, it’s not even magic, it’s…”

“Yggdrasil,” Anima said, “I know, it’s beyond magic, which is why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh?” Eir asked.

“Can you take a look at these notes I’ve made? It’s a new type of regeneration spell, far better and more complex than the ones we have now. I think I’ve figured out the basic pathway, but I’d like you opinion on whether you think it can be done,” Anima said, handing over her papers.

Eir took them and looked over them with interest. “I’ll read them at lunch,” she said.

Anima nodded and turned to leave.

“You aren’t going to help us make rune stones today?” Eir asked her.

“No,” Anima said, “I’m going to go and sit in the sun.”

****

Nal stood at the side of the glacier and watched as Grundroth was laid to rest. His body was not in a particularly good state given what had happened to him, and so it was encased in a block of thick ice rather than left lying open like most kings.

Nal turned her head slowly and looked further down the glacier. King Hailstrum’s body was just visible on its raised dais. It was covered with a thin canopy of clear ice. The cold of Jotunheim and the water content in Jotun bodies meant that they didn’t break down easily after they died. Most bodies were left out on glaciers to be eaten by animals or, if they lasted long enough, to be carried out to the distant oceans, the only running water in the realm. 

Nal wondered if she might be allowed to be laid to rest on Asgard when her time came, and if she would be permitted a longship burial of fire. 

Not likely, if Hela was queen by then Nal’s best hope would be having the Bifrost cut off halfway there and her body left to float through space forever.

She was escorted back to the palace by General Groupr, Spymaster Raolr, and of course, Laufey. Once inside they headed upstairs and into her office.

“What do you have to tell me?” Nal asked as soon as they were inside.

Groupr and Raolr both glanced across at Laufey awkwardly.

“Laufey, would you leave us for a moment? Thank you,” Nal said.

As soon as he was gone both men relaxed slightly. Nal raised an eyebrow.

“You can’t believe he’s a threat otherwise you wouldn’t have let him show me around,” she said bluntly.

“It’s not him specifically… although I have had a few doubts,” Groupr said, “He is a son of Morag, and they are the most powerful faction in the court, and probably will be for some time yet. They control the council, who you will have to meet with soon, and Laufey technically has no title or position, he’s just good at… being helpful.”

“He’s clever and cunning, but I truly believe utterly loyal to your Majesty,” Raolr added, “But perhaps not to everyone else.”

Nal’s eyes flickered back and forth between them. “You would prefer him gone?” she asked.

“No, but I’d like to see some of his brothers replaced, just to balance things up a bit,” Raolr admitted.

“I will consider it,” Nal said, “Now what else did you want to tell me?”

“I wanted to give you a proper overview of the army as it stands,” Groupr said.

“I was hoping to go over the current spy network and discuss possible changes,” Raolr added.

Nal nodded, “General, you first,” she said.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in?” Nal asked.

Laufey appeared; Groupr and Raolr both looked annoyed.

“A delegation from Asgard has arrived and is asking to speak with you, your Majesty,” Laufey said.

“That was quick,” mumbled Groupr.

Nal shot him a sharp look and rose from her chair. “I’ll take care of it, better done as quickly as possible,” she said.

Laufey escorted her to the main audience chamber with Groupr and Raolr marching behind.

The delegation consisted of General Hymir and Commander Frode, newly elevated after the demise of Commander Lomax.

“Your Majesty,” General Hymir said, bowing low.

Nal resisted the urge to pull a face. Two days ago she had been a Grace and his bow had been a lot higher. She felt uncomfortably exposed in her new clothes and had to actively stop herself from wrapping her arms over her stomach to hide her exposed skin.

“General Hymir, you are welcome to Jotunheim. What brings you here?” she asked.

He looked up at her with resignation in his eyes. “His Majesty, King Bor of Asgard, requests that Jotunheim formally join Asgard as its ally in the war against Nidavellir. He further requests that you halt trade between Jotunheim and Nidavellir and that negotiation begin for the Jotun army to take to the field of battle,” he said.

To her right, Nal became aware of Groupr tensing up. His hand brushed unconsciously against the hilt of his blade.

He’d been expecting it, she realised. No one here was stupid, they knew where she’d come from and they expected close ties to Asgard as a result. No doubt his briefing was to inform her exactly what the Jotun army had to offer in terms of strength and skill. Raolr said he wanted to talk about making changed to the spy network as well, to aid the war effort perhaps?

Nal took a deep breath and kept a calm expression in spite of her rapidly pounding heart.

“Please deliver the following message to King Bor of Asgard,” she said, “The realm of Jotunheim has no quarrel with Nidavellir and urges both kings to seek peace between them, for the safety and security of all the nine realms. We shall continue to remain a trading partner to whichever realm chooses to trade with us, and will not be drawn into conflicts that are not our concern.”

All three of the men next to her were staring at her in open shock.

“You can’t – ” Commander Frode started to say but was cut off by General Hymir, who said,

“I shall deliver you message at once, your Majesty.”

He was smiling slightly, and Nal got the distinct impression that she had his approval.

“Do you require anything else, General?” she asked.

“No, your Majesty, we shall return immediately,” he said.

Nal nodded in dismissal and turned to head back to her office.

“You do not wish to aid your Grandfather?” Groupr asked the moment they were out of General Hymir’s presence.

“The King of Asgard can fight his own battles with his own people,” Nal said, “I have _my_ people to think of now, and they are not disposable.”

Two hours later she received a reply from the stronghold of Utgard, inviting her to visit. Within the hour Laufey had arranged transport and Nal set off to meet Farbauti, Loki’s mother.

****

“That bitch!” Bor snapped, kicking her chair over in his anger. “What does she think I sent her to Jotunheim for? Playing in the snow?”

Odin flinched and drew in a quick breath. “You are speaking about your granddaughter,” he said.

“She’s no granddaughter of mine, that traitor! You know what this is, don’t you? She’s throwing a tantrum. She’s trying to pay me back for threatening to banish her,” Bor said.

“You didn’t threaten her, you actually did banish her,” Odin said. 

“Semantics! She’s being a stupid, stubborn, petty little girl!” Bor yelled.

“She’s looking out for her people, as a ruler should,” Odin argued.

“Asgard is her people, she ought to be putting them first!” Bor snapped back.

“No,” Odin said, “She was made the queen of Jotunheim, she’s doing what is right for them, to protect them.”

“It’ll do her no good. If she won’t fall into line then once I’m done with the Dwarfs I’ll show her what rejecting the friendship of Asgard means for _her people_ ,” Bor said darkly.

Odin’s eyes narrowed. “I will not help you attack a neutral realm,” he said, his temper finally rising.

Bor glared back at him.

“Could you two possibly take this somewhere else? I’m trying to understand these logistic reports and it’s not going well,” said Vili from near the window.

They both looked at him.

“Well, Nal did it,” he said, “I told you that when you got home, I just signed whatever she put in front of me. All of this was her doing, from morning ‘til night she kept this realm running, and now I actually have to do it and I do wish you’d assign me a few dozen secretaries, I’m not good at this.”

Bor growled under his breath and turned back to his desk. “I am cursed,” he muttered, “Cursed with an incompetent son, a traitorous son, and, and…” – he gestured at Odin – “You,” he added.

“We don’t need Jotunheim to win the war,” Odin said, “And she’s not going to turn against us any more than she will fight for us, so at least we have guaranteed neutrality.”

Bor sighed and picked up his chair; one of the legs had broken off.

“The war is taking a long time, and Asgard is suffering for it in a lot of little ways,” he said. “But as long as Eitri’s head remains on his shoulders we must fight on.”


	31. The Second Vial

The feast that night was tense. Bor was still in a horrible mood and Odin skipped it entirely to help Vili pick up where Nal had left off. The two brothers remained in Bor’s office late into the night going over each aspect of the realm and prioritising what needed to be done.

“He’s leaving again soon, isn’t he?” Villi asked.

“We both are,” Odin said. “I need to get back out to the battlefield, especially with General Hymir still on Asgard.”

“Do you think it’ll be over soon?” Vili asked, “I miss my home.”

“I can’t see an end to it yet,” Odin admitted, “There was a chance with Jotunheim behind us, but that’s unlikely now.”

“She really did keep everything here running well, far better than I could,” Vili said.

Odin looked over the careful accounts, notes and reports that Nal had created in her time as Asgard’s unofficial regent. “Yes, she did,” he admitted. “Jotunheim is in good hands.”

“Has Loki turned up yet?” Vili asked, making Odin start.

“What? Uh, no, he’s still absent,” Odin said.

“Not like him to just disappear,” Vili said, pulling another stack of papers forwards.

“He’ll turn up,” Odin lied. 

It pained him to think of his closest friend as a traitor, but Odin was good at telling when his father was lying and Bor had been utterly sincere in his belief that Loki was dangerous and merely biding his time before striking. 

Loki had always been good at lying, and now Odin knew why.

“Let’s go over this last bit here and then call it a night,” he said, changing the subject. 

“Oh, taxes,” Vili said. “I don’t even like doing my own.”

****

Hela moved silently through the corridors of the palace. She had left the feast late enough to be considered normal, but still earlier than Bor himself, who was still drinking the last of the wine.

Her destination was the royal bedchamber, specifically the jug of ale that sat on the small table by the fire. Bor had been taking a glass of ale before bed since he was a young man, which worked perfectly with Hela’s chosen plan.

She reached the right floor and slipped through a door into one of the private audience chambers, moving quickly, she crossed the room and climbed out of the window, before carefully creeping across until she was on the balcony in the room adjacent to Bor’s bedroom.

The doors were closed and covered in detection spells, but Hela had a god’s power to call on. She concentrated and summoned a wave of decay, aiming it at the spells. To her delight they crumbled and vanished. Hela grinned. All day she’d been practicing on rune-stones, trying to erase the spell without damaging the stone. Once she’d really put her mind to it she had found it quite easy.

Eitri was going to be in for a surprise later, she thought to herself, when she made the handle of his precious axe decay right out of his hands. Or maybe his hands themselves? Reduce them to bone and ash? If she could focus so narrowly under pressure…

But no, focussing now was what was important. Hela forced herself to concentrate on the doors and jimmy them open as quietly as she could. She slipped inside, nerves and excitement rising in equal measure, and headed for the table where the ale lay waiting.

The jug was also spelled to glow when anything was added to it that wasn’t ale, but Hela just smiled and drew on a wisp of her power. The spell disintegrated.

Smiling with joy, Hela took the second vial of Death Flower poison from her earlier brewing process and poured it into the ale. Bor had enquired about whether she’d have enough to take care of someone else back when she’d first tried to poison Loki, but he’d been thinking of Lord Elbin.

Satisfied, Hela turned and left the way she’d come. She had another destination in mind before the night was over.

****

Bor pushed open the door to his bedroom and waved away the servant standing by to assist him should he need it. He was fine, tired and frustrated and feeling betrayed by his family, but fine.

“Blood should be loyal,” he muttered to himself, “Turns out the bitch has ice in her veins after all.”

He poured himself a glass of ale and let out a large sigh. He’d been banking on Jotunheim pulling their trade from Nidavellir at a minimum, and had been anticipating new strategies involving the Jotun army.

“Hopefully she gets over her bloody snit sooner rather than later,” he said and swallowed the contents of the glass in one mouthful.

The effect was almost immediate. His throat started to burn and close, his stomach began making violent stabbing pains. He staggered backwards and tried to reach the door but his vision was already swimming. He fell to one knee and tried to crawl the rest of the way but his arms and legs were already beginning to jerk violently. His last thought was of Eitri, and how the Dwarf must have found a way past his security. It never occurred to him to blame Hela, or even Nal.

His soul’s connection to his body snapped and he began flying up and away, along the branches of Yggdrasil and to the gate of Valhalla, where he was greeted by his own father.

“Come, my son, join us,” Buri said.

“I was poisoned!” Bor exclaimed.

“It happens, it’s a shame, but it’s over, come and drink with us and make merry until the last battle.”

“I stopped Ragnarok,” Bor said, “I stopped the god before he could act.”

He heard laughter from his right.

“Stopped Ragnarok? No one can stop Ragnarok, believe me, I tried to avoid mine,” said a man with a bitter smile on his face. “I liked being alive and I wanted to stay that way as long as possible, but you try being trapped in rock for a few years without mercy. Ragnarok will happen one way or another, Yggdrasil will not be denied.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Bor asked.

The man grinned. “Svik,” he said.

“A liar,” Bor said dismissively.

“No, well, yes, but it’s also my name,” Svik said. “I am the God of Ragnarok, not the one coming up, the last one, and trust me, whatever you did, however hard you tried, you didn’t stop it.”

Bor frowned at him in confusion which turned slowly to unease. “Father?” he asked.

“He’s right, my son, he’s an annoying little tit but he’s right,” Buri said. “Come and meet Queen Arneia, she’ll tell you all about it. We managed to get a few things wrong over the years.”

Baffled and still angry at having his life cut short so unexpectedly, Bor followed his father away into the gigantic feast hall of Valhalla.

****

Hela reached the dungeons via the executioners door. Her own men were loyal and would swear she hadn’t visited if she told them to, and this way she avoided the sight of the regular guards.

Lord Elbin was due to be tried in the morning, the last of the True Men left. He lying on the floor of his cell, still awake and probably scheming.

Hela pressed the release and the shield keeping him in vanished.

He looked up at her and his eyes widened in surprise.

“Tell me, traitor, do you want to live?” she asked him.

“Don’t bother me with your tricks, woman, you’ll have plenty of time to torture me tomorrow,” he said.

Hela grinned. “If you follow me now you can go,” she said, “Escape the palace, even Asgard.”

“And why would you want that?” Lord Elbin asked.

“Because I just killed my sister and I intend to blame it on you. If you leave then you get your life and I get away with murder,” Hela lied. “Of course if you don’t agree then I shall, indeed, torture you horribly to death tomorrow.”

“Which sister?” Lord Elbin asked.

“Nal,” Hela lied. “She had it coming.”

“A statement I agree with,” Lord Elbin said, “But you underestimate me. All I have done has truly been for the good of Asgard, even if they don’t see it. Your actions will lead to your own punishment, certainly you will lose the throne. I shall happily die to know that you are no longer in the line of succession.”

Hela rolled her eyes and threw a wave of death at him. His body aged in seconds and he slumped dead to the floor.

“I hate heavy lifting,” Hela muttered and stepped into the cell. She hauled his body up over her shoulder and carried him out to the execution yard and through the far gate. She stuck to the shadows and carried him almost to the outer gate of the palace, then she dumped him.

She pulled the empty vial of poison out of her pocket and put it into his, then she called out for the guards, who came running at once.

“Your Grace! What’s the matter?” they called out as they ran towards her.

“I was out for a walk and I caught him trying to escape,” Hela said, “I killed him, but we must report this shocking breach of security at once.”

They nodded and ran off, one to Odin, and one to Bor. Hela stood by Lord Elbin’s corpse and waited patiently to hear the shocking news of the death of the King.

****

Odin arrived at the body first, looking concerned. “How did he get all the way out here?” he asked.

Hela shrugged. “He must have friends we haven’t traced yet, people who still support the movement. No doubt the investigations will turn them up in time,” she said.

“Well done for stopping him,” Odin said and Hela preened. “What were you doing out here?”

“Taking a walk,” Hela said. 

Odin blinked and gave her a strange look. “How long have you been taking walks?” he asked her.

“I don’t do it very often,” Hela said, thinking fast, “But on occasion, when I can’t sleep, I like to walk around the perimeter and check that all is well. One day the security of the realm will be mine to watch over, yes?”

Odin nodded slowly. “That is the plan,” he conceded and Hela fought to keep the grin from her face.

A moment later they were interrupted by a sprinting guard, who looked at Odin with panic in his eyes. “The King!” he yelled, “Your Grace, I mean your Majesty, the King is dead!”

“What?” Odin exclaimed.

“No,” Hela said quickly, “How can that be?”

“He’s been found in his bedroom, the healers were called but he was already cold,” the guard said, with perhaps not quite enough tact.

Odin shook his head. “No, what? No! How?”

“Take us to him,” Hela said, laying a hand on Odin’s arm, “At once.”

The guard led them both back to Bor’s bedroom, where the body of the king was indeed lying dead on the floor.

Odin stared at it in horror. “How?” he asked weakly.

“We’re still investigating, your Majesty,” said the head of the guards, Commander Gorm.

Odin sank to his knees beside the body of his father. “But…” he said and trailed off.

Hela knelt beside him. “We must find out who did this,” she said. “He looks as though he choked on something.”

“We suspect poison, your Majesty,” said Commander Gorm.

“Poison? Why poison?” Hela asked.

“Because the healer has already confirmed that there was nothing in his throat,” said Commander Gorm. “Poison can have a similar effect to choking, at least some of them.”

Hela looked across at Odin, who was still staring down at his father’s body in shock. “Perhaps we should go and wait elsewhere while the guards work,” she suggested helpfully. “Do you want me to inform Uncle Vili and Anima? I can write to Uncle Vé as well if you want me to.”

Odin blinked and seemed to come back to himself. “No, I’ll tell them, I should,” he said, “Thank you though, Hela, I appreciate the thought.”

Hela tried to make her expression as understanding as possible as she nodded kindly. She walked with him back to his own chambers and waited as he sent out a summons for Vili and Anima to join him at once.

“I should write to Daianya as well… and Nal,” Odin said.

“I believe once you tell Anima they will both know almost immediately,” Hela said. 

“Oh, yes, that’s right,” Odin said. “I should have remembered.”

“What happened is a shock,” Hela said, “Be easy on yourself.”

She poured him a drink from his own jug of water and held it out to him. They both paused and looked at it.

“Perhaps I ought to fetch you some fresh water personally,” Hela said, “At least until we know how it happened.”

Odin nodded. “Thank you, Hela,” he said.

Hela left to fetch the water, forcing herself to hide the delight she felt. Odin already believed in her, so that was taken care of, being supportive and helpful should be enough to seal the deal and make him declare her his chosen heir. All she had to do was maintain the act for about a hundred years after the declaration was made, then she could kill Odin and blame it on Nal, take control of Asgard and declare war on Jotunheim. Deaths would abound then, but Asgard would be victorious under her rule.

And as a bonus she would get to kill Nal which she had kind of wanted to do for a while now for personal reasons, and had absolutely nothing to do with the way Nal had burnt her face and hands clean away into frozen atoms up on that mountain.

Hela allowed herself a single smile in the shadows of the corridor by the kitchen door before once again placing her mask of concerned helpfulness back in place.

****

The investigation revealed that Bor had died by poison, and that the body of Lord Elbin had a vial on it with traces of a very specific poison inside. No one could figure out how he made it from the dungeons to Bor’s bedroom and then out to the gardens, although Hela helpfully pointed out that he might have gone to the kitchens instead and poisoned the ale before it even made it to Bor’s bedroom. Further investigation ruled that out as the protective spells on the balcony doors to Bor’s room had been removed and the door forced open, but it had been a good theory for a few hours at least.

Odin sat in his own rooms with Vili by his side, both of them equal parts grieving and concerned for the future of Asgard.

Anima had come as summoned and sat beside her father until he’d told her to go to bed. There was nothing she could do and he knew she was still upset with him over how he’d handled the situation with Nal. Nevertheless he appreciated that she set that aside for a while to offer comfort to him.

She had reported back that Daianya offered her condolences and promised not to tell the Valkyrie until after the official announcement. Nal had made no reply.

Odin was regretting the way he’d handled Nal’s situation. He should have said something about the banishment. He should have argued that it was unnecessary and that even if Nal had to go she could always come home one day, as he promised her. But in the moment he’d been caught up with potential battle plans and he’d just kind of forgotten that she was also his daughter.

He’d make it up to her, remove the banishment as one of his first orders as king. The last two Jotun rulers had visited Asgard a grand total of three times in many thousands of years, by banning Nal but accepting the Queen of Jotunheim Bor had insured that she would almost never set foot on Asgard again, which was just cruel. And of course Nal would still have to stay on Jotunheim as ruler for now, possibly forever, but without the banishment she could at least visit each year to see her sisters… maybe for their birthday. And then if a challenger to the throne appeared? Well, Nal would have to make her own choices about what was best, but of course Odin would let her come home if she chose to step down from the throne.

He’d tell her as soon as he could, as soon as everything was settled, Bor’s funeral was over, and Odin was officially crowned.

Hela leaned over and offered him a plate of sandwiches. “I watched them make them myself,” she said.

Odin gave her a grateful half-smile and took one. “Thank you, Hela, I appreciate it,” he said.


	32. A Longing for Flowers

The stronghold of Utgard was visible long before they arrived. Even the mist-filled light of Jotunheim did nothing to prevent the bright lights from shining out in all directions.

The closer they got the larger and more intimidating the stronghold became. By the time they arrived at the gates every neck was craned upwards. The top was barely visible.

“Utgard is the largest stronghold on Jotunheim,” Groupr said from his place beside Nal in the sleigh. “Farbauti is… well, most men find her intimidating; only the bravest try her door.”

“Do we knock?” Nal asked him.

Laufey glanced over at the two of them and stood up. “I shall do it on your behalf, your Majesty,” he said, shooting a look at Groupr.

“He’s welcome to,” Groupr muttered, making Nal bite the inside of her cheek. Groupr was not the kind of man to be goaded into things he preferred to avoid.

Laufey got out of the sleigh and trudged up to the gate. He raised his hand and banged as loudly as he could on the massive doors.

“Queen Nal is here to see Farbauti!” he shouted into the wind.

Nothing happened. 

Laufey banged again, growing more and more annoyed as the doors remained shut.

“I doubt they can hear his knocking on doors that big,” Nal commented and rose from her seat. She concentrated and sent a flow of power out from where she was standing beneath the gate and to the other side. Runes shaped themselves into the snow, asking for permission to enter.

A few seconds later a hatch opened up far above them and a face peered out. Nal recognised him as the man who had pulled the sleigh that took Bestla to her last resting place, Loki’s brother Morgor. 

“Hello there!” he called down cheerfully, “Hold on just a moment and I’ll open the gates!”

Laufey backed away from the doors and turned back to the sleigh with a scowl. “Such disrespect,” he muttered.

Nal shrugged, she was used to Loki and it didn’t surprise her in the slightest that his brothers would be like him. “I don’t need respect, I need answers,” she said.

“If you would tell us the questions perhaps this excursion wouldn’t be necessary,” Groupr said in an offering tone.

Nal gave him a smile, “I do not believe that the knowledge I seek is granted to sons, at least, not often,” she said.

He nodded in understanding and tapped the shoulder of the driver as the doors began to open.

The little sleigh drove into the courtyard beyond, navigating its way over snowdrifts higher than their heads that Farbauti’s children simply walked over.

“Do you want a lift to the main building? It’s about a twenty minute ride if you don’t,” Morgor said.

“Thank you… Morgor? Yes, I would appreciate it,” Nal said.

Morgor grinned as she remembered his name and leaned down to scoop them up. He carried the sleigh and the Frep that pulled it across the courtyard and into the main building. 

“I’ll take you up to Mother’s rooms,” he said, “And then I’ll take your men to the hall for some food and drink.”

“I’d rather – ” Laufey began but Nal cut him off.

“Thank you Morgor, that would be perfect.”

Laufey looked sulky. “You ought to have honour guards, even if they just wait outside the door,” he said.

Nal looked over the edge of the sleigh at the ground forty feet below them. “What do you think they will do?” she asked him.

Laufey still looked unhappy as Morgor reached the door to Farbauti’s rooms and knocked, sending a loud booming sound crashing all around them.

“Sorry! Should have told you to cover your ears,” he said cheerfully.

The door was opened by Farbauti herself. Nal watched, silently impressed, at the way all the men in the sleigh fell mute and their eyes turned respectfully downwards.

Farbauti was a legend, and Nal knew that, despite being their queen, it would be a long time before she could compete, if she ever could.

“Welcome, Queen Nal,” Farbauti said, holding out a hand. Nal stepped into it carefully from the sleigh and turned to look back at the men who had accompanied her. 

“I will see you when I’m done, be men I can be proud of,” she said.

Farbauti closed the door and walked to a table by the window, where she laid her hand down and allowed Nal to climb out.

“I was surprised to receive your letter,” she said, “We have not had much to do with one another, only one person in common.”

“Two people,” Nal said, “My grandmother always spoke highly of your wisdom, and you knew her well enough to come to her funeral.”

“I did indeed, she was a wise woman, and a brave one,” Farbauti said. “It is not easy to go so far from home, knowing that your soul will never go back.”

Nal held her breath for a moment to stop it from shuddering. “I don’t suppose you have heard from Loki?” she asked after she had gotten herself under control.

“My son is like the wind, it goes where it likes and very rarely sends anything ahead of itself,” Farbauti said. “You have lost track of him?”

“Just recently,” Nal said, “And a lot has happened which he would be very unhappy about, and then even more happened which ought to make him ecstatic.”

“My son is frequently amused, but ecstatic is quite a strong term,” Farbauti said with an inviting look.

“King Bor is dead,” Nal said bluntly. “Odin is now king of Asgard.” 

Farbauti held back a chuckle, but Nal still saw it. “You are right, my son would indeed be delighted by such news, he had no fondness for King Bor of any kind, which is rare, Loki often found things to like in people most others would find objectionable. Do you know how it happened? I do not believe he was old enough simply to die without intervention.”

“Investigations are continuing, according to my sister,” Nal said.

Farbauti nodded. “Murder then, I assume. It appears my son wasn’t the only one who hated him.”

Nal shrugged. “Perhaps he should have concentrated more on politics,” she said.

“You are not sad?”

“No,” Nal said.

“How tragic, to be so objectionable that your own family does not mourn your loss,” Farbauti said. “I understand, some of my brothers weren’t the nicest of people, but then they were bred to be brutes and I can hardly fault them for living up to their purpose.”

Nal held her gaze with an impassive expression. She had a great many feelings regarding Bor and every last one of them involved cursing.

“Tell me, Queen Nal, what is it that has brought you to my stronghold? It can’t be my wayward son, he always turns up sooner or later,” Farbauti said.

“Yes he does,” Nal said, “Even if he’s gotten himself killed he’ll be back shortly, although I am slightly concerned by how my sister cannot seem to locate his soul, I hope all that means it he’s found a way to shield himself from her sight.”

Farbauti looked shocked. “He told you?” she asked.

“Yes,” Nal said.

“Then you must be a very special woman indeed,” Farbauti said, looking at her more closely.

“I came here because I have no one else to speak to who is both knowledgeable about Jotunheim and its ways, and wise enough to provide guidance. My grandmother was both but she’s been gone a long time now and she left far too soon,” Nal said. 

“She did indeed, for the sake of my friendship with her, I will do what I can to answer your questions, granddaughter of Bestla,” Farbauti said.

Nal nodded curtly. “What am I supposed to do here?” she asked. “Every woman is her own queen and the strongholds are off limits, Jotunheim is not a united realm, so… what’s the point of having a queen?”

“The point is that men who were bred to protect their kin will continue to do so even after their mother is gone. There will be fights, and war, and it will tip over to the strongholds. We have had civil wars before, you know.”

“I know, Grandmother told me stories of what happened the last time there was no king,” Nal said. “But I’m not a king. I know they’re hoping I’ll set up a stronghold of my own, where they can all stay and… breed.”

The last word was muttered.

“I see that you are opposed to the idea,” Farbauti said.

“Not in general, but specifically? Yes,” Nal said. “I’m one hundred years old, if I were a traditional Jotun I wouldn’t be ready for this until I was a thousand, at least. I’ve been here almost three days and already I feel pressured, how am I supposed to balance being who _I_ am with the role of the king?”

Farbauti sighed gently. “No queen has ever held the title of king so I cannot tell you a simple answer. You must blaze that particular trail by yourself. But I would not be so frustrated by the pressure. It is in their nature to hope, and just as natural for you to reject those who are not good enough.”

“But when you reject someone you can send them on their way, if I do it I will see them again every day afterwards,” Nal said.

“True, for example, I did wonder what Laufey is doing so high in your graces? He does not seem like a good candidate to me,” Farbauti said. “Morgor was watching him bang on the door from the security room and laughing rather hard.”

“He’s cunning, and clever, and the unofficial leader of the sons of Morag,” Nal said. “Keeping him onside keeps them all onside, and as the biggest faction I cannot afford to upset them so soon. I _know_ there is something suspicious going on about Grundroth’s death and until I wriggle it out of somebody I cannot afford to upset the wrong person.”

Farbauti nodded. “You are as clever as Bestla, I can see,” she said. “Although this uneasy feeling you have it not entirely the fault of the men surrounding you. Jotun women, by instinct, will settle near the place they were born to build their strongholds, even those who travel far and wide searching for new code to learn from will eventually come back home. Bestla ached for the snow, I know that.”

Nal frowned, puzzled. “I don’t understand,” she confessed.

“You are young, still gathering, not yet ready to settle in place… or are you? Different women do different things to attract the code they desire. Bestla was not a traveller, for all that she went so far. You are unlikely to have inherited a desire to roam. If you are anything like her you would instead build your stronghold in such a way to draw men to it, and to you,” Farbauti said. 

“I didn’t build one at all,” Nal said.

“I think you did, and I think, like any woman who was forced to leave her strongholds, you are feeling unsettled and frightened, and uncomfortably exposed,” Farbauti said.

“I lived in the palace of Asgard, I didn’t build it,” Nal said. “It was built before I was born.”

“And the gardens, my child of summer, and sun, and dirt? Were they there before you were born? Do men and women both not travel from across the nine realms and beyond to seek them out? How many gardeners have come to work for you? How many travellers have asked to meet the architect of such a wonder?” Farbauti asked.

Nal froze in place. “A… great many,” she confessed.

“You built no walls because you didn’t need them, you built yourself a wonder so that those who appreciate such things could find you, and now you are away from it and you feel lost and alone.”

Nal sank down and hugged her knees. “I want to go home,” she said, eyes stinging traitorously, “But I can’t. I’ve been banished, and even if I wasn’t this place needs me, well, not _me_ , they need someone powerful enough to keep the men from fighting with each other, and right now I’m the only one. I want… I want my father. I want to ask him what to do, because he always knows what to do. He’s the god of knowing what to do! But he doesn’t care, he never even tried to stop Bor from throwing me out, all he could say was how it would _help the war_. I hate the bloody war. I hate that it robbed people of their lives, that it robbed my sister of her happiness, and my other sister’s lover has been badly injured and just… everything!”

“Men,” Farbauti said, shrugging. “Although perhaps that’s not fair, I’ve met some bloodthirsty women in my life. All you can do is your best, child, a woman who loses her stronghold will build another. A woman taken from her home will make a new one. What you are feeling, the displacement, will fade in time, although I have no doubt that you will always long for flowers. The father problem… well I never had one, I had seven hundred, all of which were just passing through so I never met them either, so I’m not really sure what they’re good for, but I’m sure you will manage, you are a woman and a Jotun, even without being a king you were always a queen.”

Nal drew in a shuddering breath. “Thank you for letting me come and speak to you. I appreciate your wisdom,” she said. “I still don’t like it, but I think I know what I need to do, at least a little bit.”

Farbauti nodded. “You may come back, you know, and you may visit others. Visiting strongholds is usually what a king does once he’s crowned. Most of them hope that becoming king proves how special they are and therefore hope to be allowed to pass on their code. I can’t say I’ve ever found anything that wasn’t already there in someone else. Perhaps instead of offering code you can ask for stories?”

Nal smiled softly. “I think I’d appreciate a few stories,” she said. “In a little while, once I’ve gotten things fully under control back at the king’s court.”

“What is the secret to becoming a king?” Farbauti asked.

Nal looked up at her, a glint of mischief in her eye. “I’m afraid only a king may know,” she said. “But if you ever wanted to try the Cave yourself…”

Farbauti laughed. “My dear Queen of the Unwanted, I wouldn’t fit!”

****

The body of Bor was taken to the healers’ wing where it was laid out in private for closer examination.

Eir stood with wide eyes at the foot of the table, staring down at the body as though she’d never seen one before. “Are you certain I ought to be here?” she asked Inge, who nodded firmly. 

“You have the ability to see far deeper into a body than even our scanners, I want you here to see if you can identify anything strange or unusual,” she said.

“He looks so slack,” Eir said.

Without any life to guide it, Bor’s mouth hung open and his eyes remained in a half-closed state.

“The dead always do,” Inge said. “Look deeper, see if there’s anything noteworthy.”

Eir concentrated; Bor’s body became a network of veins and nerves, each one completely devoid of life or energy. “His throat is damaged by something. The cells there have all burst, all down the length,” Eir said.

“That would be the poison,” Inge said. “So it causes cellular bursting?”

“His stomach has the same damage, and there’s something wrong with his veins,” Eir continued, “They’re corroding, even now.”

“Corrosion in the veins? That’s important,” Inge said, flipping through a book on poison and their damages as quickly as she could.

“It must have worked fast, only the veins closest to the stomach are touched, the ones in his head are fine, and down his legs,” Eir said. “Oh, and the ones leading to his lungs are so badly damaged that that’s probably how he really died. It travelled very fast from his stomach to get there.”

Inge nodded, eliminating poison after poison. “There are seven that can do such a thing,” she said. “A vial was found on the body of Lord Elbin, they tested it and found it to be poison from the Death Flower plant. It’s a hard plant to get a hold of, but there is one in the gardens of the palace. Lord Elbin may have taken a flower at any time in the past and brewed up the poison for sinister purposes.” She stopped talking and read over the effect Death Flower poison had on the body. “What you see matches perfectly. It does appear to have been Lord Elbin who murdered our king.”

“Seems kind of odd,” Eir said, “To use such a rare poison when there are so many other common ones available.”

“The Death Flower poison is not survivable, the moment he took some into his mouth he was already dead,” Inge said. “We have a lot of treatments for common poisons, and most of them work a lot slower too which would have given him time to call for help.”

“Still seems like a lot of effort,” Eir said, “But then I’ve never wanted to kill anyone so maybe murderers would disagree with me.”

****

“There’s something very suspicious about all this,” Frigga said to Eir later as they worked on their runes, “The vial still in his pocket for one, why would he just throw it away one his way out?”

“Maybe he didn’t want to leave any evidence it was him?” Eir suggested.

“The fact that he broke out of his cell the same night the king died would be suspicion enough,” Frigga said. “It’s not like they’d stop searching for him just because the king was dead.”

“Maybe he’d gone mad,” Myia said, “Mad people tend to do things that sane people wouldn’t, like poison the king he claimed to admire above all others and want to help make the throne more stable by eliminating all of Prince Odin’s daughters. I mean, King Odin now.”

“He really wanted to do that?” Frigga asked.

Myia nodded. “He spoke all the time about how great King Bor was, and how King Odin was going to be great in turn, but he really didn’t like the fact that Hela was next in line, or that there were three other women following her. But if he’d gone mad then I suppose he’d lash out at anyone.”

“How did he make the spells go down?” Frigga wondered. “I know from my own studies that blowing away spells like that isn’t easy, and I didn’t think he had any magic.”

“He didn’t, or at least he never demonstrated any,” Myia said. “They’re looking for an accomplice, although all the sorcerers I knew worked for him are already dead, either in the attack or as a part of the trials.”

“An accomplice no one in his organisation knew about, and who didn’t stay with him long enough to get him out of the palace walls?” Frigga questioned.


	33. Suspicions

Frigga made her way up to the King’s office after the end of the day. She had no right to try and involve herself in the investigation and yet she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was more to the story behind the death of Bor.

Odin and Hela were inside, overseeing the removal of his father’s affects. He was quietly gesturing to one thing or another and watching with sad eyes as the servants packed them away in boxes to be placed into storage.

“Here,” he said softly, picking up the box on Bor’s desk and handing it over, “This one can go in the secure storage box, it’s got powerful enchantments all over it.”

The servant took the box and carefully packed it away in the container marked for powerful or enchanted items as Hela watched closely. Once the box was securely inside a tiny smile appeared on her face for a fraction of a second before disappearing again.

“Do you need to do this so soon?” Frigga asked gently from the door.

Odin looked up and found a smile for her. “I’m not touching anything else until Vé arrives from Alfheim, but this room is a workroom first and foremost. I’m having most of his things moved to his chambers until there’s time to go over everything.”

She stepped inside the room and walked to his side. “I’m so sorry that this has happened,” she said, “He was a good king.”

“He was a good father, at least, to me,” Odin admitted, “Vé will always feel differently.”

“People don’t always turn out the way their parents expect,” Frigga said, “I suppose it was hard for them to find a connection.”

“That a very diplomatic way of putting it,” Odin said, sounding a little more like himself.

Frigga bit her lip and braced herself to raise the topic she had come to discuss. “I was wondering how the investigation was going,” she said as an opening.

“It’s ongoing, they are looking for accomplices,” Odin said.

“Because Lord Elbin had no magic,” Frigga said.

“Yes, how did you know that?” Odin asked.

“Lady Myia told me, she was present for a lot of their conversations before she escaped from them, she said Lord Elbin had no magic, and that the sorcerers he used all died in the fighting or shortly afterwards,” Frigga said.

On the other side of the room Hela froze in place, listening.

“Perhaps she should talk to Commander Gorm and tell him what she knows,” Odin said, instantly alert. “Whoever it was must be very powerful, those spells were obliterated, but at the same time who would be strong enough to do such a thing while not assisting in the attack on the Valkyrie?”

“Someone in the noble ranks,” Hela said, breaking into their thoughts, “Someone who didn’t want to be known, worked from the shadows, someone with enough personal power to remain in hiding, even from Lord Elbin’s inner circle.”

Odin frowned, “I don’t know of anyone with that kind of power,” he said.

“Maybe they hired someone?” Frigga suggested. “Can you imagine? An anonymous backer with money and power wouldn’t have to have magic themselves if they could buy it.”

“I’ll ask Anima to take a closer look at where the spells fell,” Odin said, “She can trace almost anyone by their magic, if she can trace the one who did this that will lead to Lord Elbin’s benefactor.”

Unseen by wither of them, Hela’s eyes widened in nervousness. “I didn’t know Anima had such skill,” she said.

Odin shrugged. “She says magic is just numbers, and that different people leave behind different number trails when they cast their spells. I’m not saying she could pick a hired mage out by name but I’m sure given enough time she could track them down. In addition, the shipping in and out of Asgard is closely watched due to the war. Whoever it was is unlikely to have been able to leave Asgard yet. We’ll catch them quickly before they even realise we’re on their trail.”

For the first time since his father’ death, Odin actually looked pleased. He gazed down at Frigga adoringly. “I’ll speak to Anima as soon as I’m done here.”

“I can do it,” Frigga offered. “She should be heading to the healers’ wing to speak to Eir about her latest regeneration spell work, I know she wanted to go over it, I’ll wait for her there.”

Odin smiled at her. “Thank you, send her straight up here to me. The sooner she gets started the better.”

Frigga left the room. So did the servant, his arms weighed down with containers. Odin and Hela were left alone.

“Anima is very good at magic,” Hela said, her thoughts whirling around in a panic. She had not planned for the investigation to be so thorough, curse Frigga’s intelligence.

“Well she is the goddess of it,” Odin replied, scanning the bookshelves for personal books of Bor’s. There were very few to be found, he mostly stored palace records there, which would remain for Odin’s use.

“But only magic, right? She can’t see, energy blasts… or Yggdrasil’s power, right?” Hela asked.

Odin shrugged. “I’m not sure what she can see, really. My own magic is not minor and I still can’t do half of what she can accomplish.”

Hela tapped her fingers on the desk, her expression was slightly manic. Odin still had his back turned and didn’t notice.

“I have to go now,” Hela said. “I have… to do paperwork. Lots of executions lately and I’m behind.”

Odin looked up at her, still distracted. “Yes, if you wish. Don’t you have a secretary?”

“Yes, but if I’m going to sign something I ought to read it first,” Hela said, smiling awkwardly.

If Odin had not been so deep in his grief he would have noticed something was wrong, but instead he just waved her away. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, “No feasts until Father has his last funerary rights.”

Hela nodded and walked out, her odd smile still on her face.

****

Frigga did indeed find Anima in the healers’ wing. She and Eir were buried in her calculations, both talking rapidly while somehow still able to listen to what the other was saying.

“Your Grace?” Frigga interjected, “Your father wants to speak with you without delay. It’s about the investigation into King Bor’s death.”

Anima looked up at her and sighed. “Truly it can’t wait?” she asked.

“Time is of the essence,” Frigga confirmed.

Anima pushed herself up and shot a look of apology at Eir. “Hopefully this won’t take long; I’ll come back after I’ve spoken to Father. I need to ask him something anyway,” she said. 

“He’s in the King’s office,” Frigga said.

Anima nodded and vanished into thin air.

“I wish I could do that,” Frigga said.

“Me too, but my magic is very much in the realm of healing,” Eir said. “These are really good notes, this spell is going to change everything if we can figure it out.”

****

Anima popped in to the King’s office and cleared her throat. Odin jumped slightly. “Oh, there you are,” he said. “Frigga raised an interesting question just now about how the spells around Father’s chambers were taken down. I want you to go and look at them and see if you can track down the mage that did it. If we can find them then hopefully that will lead to Lord Elbin’s accomplice.”

Anima sighed softly. “As you wish,” she said. “But Father? I know it’s a bad time, and there’s a lot going on, but I was wondering if you could make a little bit of time for me tomorrow at mid-morning? There’s a lot I want to discuss and if you don’t make the time then I’ll be forced to write it down and you know how much I hate doing that.”

Odin gave her a half-smile before his face fell again. “Is it about Nal?” he asked. “I know she felt betrayed by what I did, but you must understand how important it was that she go to Jotunheim. Even without their express support, just knowing they won’t side with Eitri is enough to ensure that we won’t be caught out.”

Anima looked down. “You and Nal will have to work things out on your own. Mid-morning? In the rose garden? I’ll arrange something to eat?”

Odin nodded. “Yes, I will be there,” he promised.

“I’ll go and have a look at those spells, do you want to come?” Anima asked, holding out her hand.

Odin took it with a curious expression and a moment later they were in Bor’s bedroom.

“No one is supposed to be able to teleport in here, or into the office either,” he said.

“I’m not no one, I’m magic personified,” Anima said with confidence as she headed to the balcony doors. Odin stood back and watched as she calmed her breathing and let her magic flow. After a moment she frowned in puzzlement and turned to look at him. “There’s nothing here,” she said.

It was Odin’s turn to frown. “What?” he asked.

“There’s nothing here. No fragments, no stray echoes, nothing. These spells weren’t undone or broken, they’re _gone_.”

“Can they do that?” Odin asked. “I mean, can spells be erased without a trace? I’ve never read of anything like that before.”

“I can unravel a spell into nothingness if I have long enough,” Anima said, “But it would take hours to do a single strand, you’d have to gather up each little piece as you did it. Someone would have had to have been up here for days to unravel and collect the power from spells as powerful as these.”

Odin’s look turned to alarm. “That means someone was here, concealed, for a very long time.”

“They would have had to start before the attack on the palace by the True Men,” Anima said. 

“And there’s nothing else that could have done this?” Odin asked.

“Only time,” Anima said. “Without a power source built in, all spells eventually lose potency with time until they fade altogether. Old spells have to be refreshed or else they will weaken with age, just like everything else in the physical world. If a person was to use, say, the Time Infinity Stone, then they could age the spells into nothingness. But using standard magic wouldn’t have done this, it _couldn’t_ have done this.”

“I’ll have to tell Commander Gorm,” Odin said. “Can you track something like the Time Stone?”

Anima looked thoughtful. “Not easily, I’ve never encountered it personally, but I suppose I could study the power signatures of the other stones I’ve seen and try to find if there’s a common frequency or something along those lines, but Father – ”

“I’d appreciate it,” Odin said, “This attack got through our strongest defences, we need to know how so that we can defend against it in future.”

Anima sighed. “I’ll try,” she said.

****

Hela was not happy. In fact, there wasn’t a word yet invented for how unhappy she was. Right now Anima would be investigating the destruction of the protection spells, and she’s find out how it happened, oh yes, Anima always figured out things like that, annoying little bitch.

Hela paced her room, trying to calm down. So what if Anima figured out it wasn’t magic? That didn’t mean she’d immediate suspect Hela. Very few people even knew that she could make things like stone decay, let alone magic.

Nal knew, and that meant Anima would too. 

But Nal didn’t know Hela could do it to _magic_ , stone was one thing, but magic was completely different. All Hela had to do was stay calm and stick to the plan. Everything would be fine.

Odin was clever, very clever. He wouldn’t stop looking for Lord Elbin’s ‘accomplice’, not ever. Hela was beginning to regret involving him. She thought he’d be a good candidate, instead he was turning out to be a terrible one. She should have chosen someone who had been fighting with Bor, someone with magic so that they never thought to question how the spells came down.

Who had both? 

And then the answer came. Anima. She hadn’t exactly been _fighting_ with Bor but she was upset with him for banishing Nal, and she definitely had the magical skills to break the spells. 

Hela almost jumped up and down from excitement. She could do it, it would be easy but she could convince Father that Anima had killed Bor. She was the perfect suspect. Not to mention that using Death Flower poison would be the perfect poetic justice after Bor banished Nal. Nal was the one who had grown it after all.

To excited to sleep, Hela almost ran straight to Odin’s side at once to tell him but at the last second she held herself back. Anima would right now be examining the spells, probably in Odin’s presence. Odin wouldn’t _want_ to believe that his youngest daughter was capable of such madness, which meant that Hela had to act carefully, perhaps even plant some kind of evidence in Anima’s room for him to find once she raised his suspicions.

But what? The vial was already discovered. Was there a book about breaking spells that Hela could steal from the library and leave for Odin to find?

She headed out, determined to ensure that her new plan would be watertight. She had been hasty when killing Bor and hadn’t thought things through properly, now she couldn’t afford any more mistakes. 

****

That night Frigga dreamed once again of being on the pathway. She was much closer to the edge now, and the darkness to her right was billowing ominously.

“Alright, I see you,” she muttered, “No need to be so dramatic.”

The Vanir path was right here. Her last chance to turn onto it was coming. She could see light and laughter, happy days around a dining table and lots of friends and family. 

On the other path was Odin, alone.

He looked so broken and sad. She stepped closer to him, drawn by the pain in his eye. The other was covered by a patch.

“Where did you get that?” she called out to him.

He reached up and touched it gently. “I earned it,” he said. “I deserved it.”

“What did you do?” she asked.

He looked at her, remaining eye brimming with tears. “I lost.”


	34. The Reign of Queen Hela

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting near the end of the story. As always I will post the last chapter, epilogue and notes page all at once when we get there.

Nal sat in her private sitting room back at the Jotun palace, deep in thought. Farbauti had given her a lot to think about. Leaving Jotunheim was not an option, at least in the short term, which meant that she would have to make the best of things as they were. She still found it odd that Daianya couldn’t find Loki, although given his inability to die she wasn’t prepared to worry about him just yet.

So she’d been cast out of her stronghold, which she hadn’t even realised she’d been building. What silly things instincts were, all they seemed to do was cause mischief.

A woman out of her stronghold was vulnerable, which perfectly matched how Nal felt in her new environment even with thousands of men sworn to obey her every command.

They’re not _your_ men, she thought to herself. They are loyal to the crown, yes, but they were loyal to the last one too, and they will never be as loyal as sons.

But really, did she want sons? Not yet, she was only a hundred years old, sped up maturing notwithstanding, she still didn’t feel ready to start having children. 

Besides, how would a court of rival suitors react to the arrival of children? Would they accept it as a natural part of her biology? Or would they be jealous, after all, none of them had given her their code, they would know that these children weren’t even the tiniest bit theirs.

Nal bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. What she needed, and would have to find a way to obtain, was true respect. Once she had their respect she could risk something like children, but it would take time. Most of them hadn’t even spoken to her yet.

She reached out a hand and concentrated. The walls of this room changed to look more like a garden, to match her bedroom.

Maybe she could send some of them out across the galaxy to bring her plants that thrived in frozen worlds? A quest would give them a challenge, and the winner would be greatly honoured. Plus she may well end up with a garden after all, although given how few plants did well in permanent frozen ground she was not hopeful of ever matching the glory of Asgard.

Maybe she could build some enclosures? It wasn’t as though Jotunheim was unable to generate heat, it just required some intervention.

There was a knock on the door and Nal called out, “Come in.”

It was Raolr, he was carrying a stack of parchment.

“I have brought the latest reports for you to review, your Majesty,” he said.

Nal nodded gracefully. “Come and sit with me, we can go over them together,” she said.

He looked surprised, but pleased as he walked to the table. Nal concentrated and grew him a seat large enough to be comfortable, then she made the table legs grow taller so that he could work without hunching over.

She herself perched on the side of the table and waited until he laid out all of his parchments. “Are these from within the realm or outside of it?” she asked him.

“Within, I have men in settlements across Jotunheim, there are some smaller places where rogue bands of brothers have set up their own small hamlets, we like to keep an eye on them and make sure that they are not threatening any strongholds or the king’s, uh, queen’s men,” he said.

Nal nodded. “What makes them settle elsewhere rather than come here?” she asked.

“Many things,” Raolr said, “Some were bred to be independent in nature, they simply don’t get on well with others. We normally find them in isolated homes far away into the wilds. Others managed to displease the king badly enough to prefer leaving the court.”

“And Laufey? He displeased King Grundroth, why was he not sent away?” Nal asked, watching Raolr’s face closely.

“He… well, his crime was deemed so severe that King Grundroth wanted him made a permanent example,” Raolr said, “Especially to those who were banished, as things could always have been worse.”

Nal tried hard not to flinch at the word ‘banished’ and almost succeeded. “And where was he when Grundroth died?” she asked calmly.

Raolr paused in his shuffling of parchment and turned to look at her. “I was in the dungeons myself at the time,” he said carefully, “I cannot tell you.”

“Seems as though a lot of you were facing Grundroth’s displeasure at the time of his death,” Nal said.

Raolr tilted his head. “It was a difficult time in the court,” he said.

“You are a spymaster, you deal in careful phrases and double-speak, but I am your queen, and I would like to know what really happened, because I am not a fool, nor simple-minded,” Nal said sharply. “Do I have cause for concern?”

Raolr shook his head quickly. “No, your Majesty, I swear to you that you are perfectly safe, there is not a man here who would harm you,” he said.

“No doubt Grundroth thought the same,” Nal said.

Raolr looked down and sighed. “There was a woman,” he said, “A Vanir by the name of Amora, she bewitched King Grundroth utterly. He was obsessed with the idea of having a woman all his own, it was unnatural, but as long as she was in his bed he didn’t seem to care how much damage she was doing.”

“What kind of damage?” Nal asked.

“Several members of your council have their roles because she recommended them… or did something to turn King Grundroth’s head from their rivals,” Raolr said. 

“Which members?” Nal asked.

“The sons of Morag,” Raolr said.

“So half my council was chosen because Grundroth couldn’t say no to a woman?” Nal asked.

“Some of them are quite skilled, but almost all of them had rivals who were just as skilled,” Raolr said, “Of course now that they have their positions it would be very hard to remove them.”

“And the entire time this was going on, Laufey was working as a slave?” Nal asked.

“He was,” Raolr said, “Some of his brothers would sneak visits to him on occasion, but none of the ones in power. Frankly, we assumed that it was simply brotherly ties, until Grundroth died and Laufey was instantly treated as though he was some kind of leader.”

Nal nodded slowly. “He’s cunning, and sly, and – I suspect – extremely ruthless, but he’s also been very supportive of me.”

“You were his salvation,” Raolr said, “You are the reason he is free.”

“Do you think that he is loyal to me for that? Or is he only loyal to his brothers?” Nal asked.

“I will watch him more closely to find out, if that is your wish,” Raolr said.

“It is my wish. I can deal with cunning, I do not want disloyalty,” Nal said. “And I want to know what is likely to happen in the next few years when Yasa, who has a stronghold in the west, passes away and her sons come here.”

Raolr blinked in surprise. “I didn’t know you knew,” he said.

“I read your last set of reports, she is elderly now, and her last child was almost a thousand years ago. Old enough to be grown, which means she has timed things well. It might be in ten years, it might be tomorrow, but there will be a host of new arrivals soon and I want to know what to expect,” Nal said.

Raolr nodded. “There will be a period of adjustment as people find their places in court. There will be some fights, although not in your presence. There will be a few deaths between those who cannot adjust to the new dynamic, but it usually doesn’t escalate. Most men know their brothers quite well; if he’s a fighter then his death will not surprise them.”

“Perhaps we ought to do something to welcome them,” Nal said, “Some kind of competition or tournament where they can show off their skills without having an argument first.”

Raolr nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a good idea, your Majesty,” he said. 

“Would you tell me if it wasn’t?” Nal asked him.

“If you command it of me,” he replied.

“In private at least, I always want to know if my ideas are bad,” Nal said. “I have a lot to learn about Jotun culture, and imposing an Asgardian viewpoint is only going to end in disaster.”

Raolr smiled. “You are wise, your Majesty, and it is a very good idea.”

Nal nodded confidently. “Good,” she said.

****

Daianya flew through the air over yet another skirmish. She scanned the area for targets while dodging flying missiles and other weapons of attack. It wasn’t as big of a battle as some others, but that was no reason to grow complacent. 

Down below she saw a Valkyrie who had lost her mount get surrounded by a number of Dwarfs. She swooped down and slashed one from behind, catching another with her follow through before rising back up into the air. The Valkyrie took advantage of her attack to sweep the feet of another Dwarf and engage in combat with the fourth. 

Daianya swooped down again, only to see a distant figure on a hill watched her. She recognised the armour of Eitri’s General easily. 

She looked right at him and shook her head. She knew he’d be looking for Hela so that Eitri could engage her once again. He seemed to have seen her head shake because he withdrew immediately from the hill. Daianya swooped back down and cut down a Dwarf who was coming up behind the Valkyrie, and pulled her sister-in-arms onto her Pegasus. 

“Thanks,” the Valkyrie said.

“Let’s get you back behind the lines,” Dainaya answered.

She had just dropped the Valkyrie off when a signal was called. The Dwarfs started to retreat from battle, abandoning the area as quickly and safely as they could. 

It made sense. The area was not particularly strategic, and the Dwarfs were outnumbered. Daianya wondered whether they had been holding out purely to see if Hela would make an appearance.

She found herself wishing that she could tell them that Hela was still on Asgard, executing traitors, and that there was no point in looking for her just yet. Then she realised her thoughts were dangerously close to that of a traitor herself and she pushed them away.

And yet… the whole war seemed so pointless now that she knew the truth. Eitri’s desire to kill Hela aside, all he wanted was peace, and his shock over his brother’s betrayal had been genuine.

Maybe now that Odin was king there was a chance this whole war could be stopped, and Daianya could go home and be with Tarah.

“Norah, Tiree, Daianya, you’re on recovery. Take a bag of runes each and get out there, be careful of traps!” called the squadron leader.

With a conflicted heart, Daianya turned to obey.

****

Hela was not happy. The last time she’d set foot in the Asgardian palace library she’d still been at her lessons, so it had taken her a lot longer than she’d hoped to find a book on dismantling spells. By the time she was done night had fallen properly and Anima was back in her room. 

She stayed up late too, annoyingly, working away on whatever it was she did, Hela had no idea.

Unfortunately, she didn’t come out in the morning either, instead she just stayed there, working away. Hela resorted to hiding the book at Anima’s workbench in the healer’s wing, which she hoped would be enough.

She went up to what was now Odin’s office and greeted him with a serious face. “Father,” she said, “Have there been any developments in the investigation?”

Odin looked up at her and shook his head, “Sadly no. Anima was only able to turn up another mystery,” he said.

“Oh?” Hela asked, trying to look suitably intrigued.

“The spells weren’t torn apart, they were completely depowered,” Odin said. “Someone unravelled them.”

Hela thought quickly, had the book she’d grabbed had anything about unravelling spells in it? She had no idea.

“So someone very powerful had to have done it?” she suggested, “Someone who had a reason to hate King Bor but was also _magical_ enough to unravel the strongest protection spells in the palace.”

Odin nodded, but frustratingly didn’t take the hint. “Commander Gorm is putting together a list of powerful mages now,” he said, “Although Anima says that she knows of no one who could unravel the spells fast enough to sneak in without being detected through alternate means.”

“No one?” Hela said, “No one at all? Not even, for example, Anima herself?”

“Anima can, although she still says it would take her some time, no one else is the Goddess of Magic though,” Odin said.

Hela wanted to scream. He was so close but just couldn’t seem to make the final leap.

“Anima who was angry at King Bor for banishing her sister from Asgard?” she said, trying to cajole him along.

Odin frowned. “Anima is the last person I would expect to act out of anger. She’s never been violent or vengeful,” he said almost scornfully as he looked up into Hela’s eyes.

Hela actually saw the moment she had failed. His expression flickered just slightly as he realised that there was one person who, despite his best efforts over the years, absolutely did react that way when she felt slighted.

“That wave of death thing that you do,” he said slowly, “It ages whatever it hits, doesn’t it? Does it only work on living things?”

“Yes,” Hela said quickly. “Non-living things can’t die, after all.”

Odin smiled. “Of course,” he said. 

The clock on the wall chimed the hour, making them both jump. 

“I have to get to the rose garden,” Odin said, rising, “I promised Anima we’d spend some time together.”

Hela blinked. “And do what?” she asked.

“Talk?” Odin suggested, “I haven’t had a lot of time to talk to any of my daughters lately, I’d like to talk to her before I head back to war.”

He closed the book he was working in and stepped carefully around the desk. Hela watched him like a hawk, moving only her head as he began walking towards the door. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it.

“Father?” Hela said when he was almost there.

Odin turned, “Yes Hela?”

Hela threw a wave of death at him. He dropped to the floor and reached for the sword at his waist. Hela reacted by throwing another wave, not at him, but at the ceiling. The stones crumbled from age and pieces rained down onto him, slamming rocks into his body and burying him in stone.

Hela let out a giggle. She had to admit that the stress of the last few days had been getting to her, all the acting, all the scheming, constantly trying to stay ahead of failure. 

And what was it worth in the end? Nothing. Her true nature could not be denied, not even for a century, not even for a _day_. Who cared about some stupid new law? She was the rightful queen, and if they wouldn’t give her the throne, then she would _take_ it.

She turned and walked out of the room, directly into the secretary who had heard the crash of stone and come running. 

Hela summoned a blade and killed him. She’d kill them all, who would stop her? She was the queen, they would bow, or they would die.

Still giggling every so often, Hela began making her way through the palace. Odin had said Anima would be in the rose garden, and it was about time that Hela had a little talk with her, and when Daianya came home then she’s have to have another little talk, and then there was Nal, as soon as the Dwarfs were conquered then it was Jotunheim’s turn.

Everyone she met on her way across the palace died. Alarms were called, guards came running, it made no difference, Hela summoned blades for every one of them, soaking up the death in the air as it surrounded her.

It felt good to be the queen.


	35. Death's Nightmare

Frigga was just returning from getting a drink when she heard a noise from outside the healers’ wing. It sounded like running footsteps.

She looked up and made eye contact with Eir who frowned in puzzlement. They both rose from their seats as Myia also looked up. 

“Can you hear screaming?” she asked in a worried voice.

“Yes,” Frigga and Eir said together.

The door burst open and Inge ran in, accompanied by several terrified looking servants. “We have to evacuate _now!_ ” she said.

All the healers in the room immediately rose to follow her to the patient area. 

“What is it? What’s happening?” Frigga asked as Myia got up to her feet with her hands supporting her belly.

“Hela’s gone mad, she’s killing everyone, she’s on her way!” said one of the servants. “Everyone she sees, she kills!”

Frigga turned to Myia and reached out a hand, “Come on, let’s get you out of here,” she said.

She helped Myia move as quickly as possible through the wing to the far exit. There was an elevator there next to a spiralling stone staircase there which led all the way to the ground floor. The healers were desperately helping the remaining recovering Valkyrie, along with some other palace patients, to get from their beds and to the elevator.

The doors opened and the first patients were loaded in.

“Stay here,” Frigga said.

She left Myia by the elevator and ran to the doors of the healers’ wing. The servants were already barricading it closed with whatever they could find at hand.

“Where are the guards?” Frigga asked, helping them to shove a large storage chest across the doorway.

“Dead,” the servant said with fear in his voice. “No one can stand against Hela, _no one_.”

“What about King Odin? Where is he?” Frigga asked.

“We don’t know, everyone is just running. There’s nothing but panic,” said the servant.

They kept building the blockade as, elevator ride by elevator ride, the healers evacuated their charges.

“Anyone who can move and isn’t needed get yourself down the staircase and out of the palace, as fast as you can!” ordered Inge.

The servants turned and ran without hesitation. Frigga followed them back to the rear. Myia was still waiting, looking between the elevator and the stairs with panic on her face.

“Myia! Come on, you can fit on this ride!” Inge called out.

Myia shot Frigga a fearful look, there were tears in her eyes. “My water broke,” she whispered.

Frigga grabbed her arm and led her to the elevator. “Tell the healer on the way down, they’ll make sure you’re alright,” she said.

The doors closed, cutting off Myia’s frightened face.

Frigga turned to head down the staircase. The servants had already fled. Inge, Eir, and two bedbound wounded remained.

“Go!” Eir said.

There was a horrible sound from the main doors.

“GO!” Eir screamed.

Frigga turned to look at the elevator controls; the elevator was still heading downwards.

The doors to the rear room opened and Hela walked in. She looked terrifying. Her skin was sunken across one half of her face, her eyes were wild with madness, and her power radiated off her in waves that caused everything near her to slowly crumble and wither.

Frigga almost bolted for the stairs right then. She wanted to. She wanted to run so badly. The darkness of her dreams welled up and sucked her breath away. It was here, the moment. It was now.

Help me, Frigga prayed to Yggdrasil. _Help me._

The smell of her mother’s perfume filled her nose, made from the flowers of her brother’s estate.

Hela raised her hands and black energy built up around her. She raised her hands and looked at the two healers and their charges. Her mouth split open into a horrible grin.

A blinding light hit her in the eyes, white as the heart of the sun. Frigga jumped between Hela and her target, glowing with a halo of white. Her eyes were white from end to end, and she saw a thousand pathways, a thousand futures, all possible, all shifting and changing, every future, laughter and light, darkness and pain, snaps made and reversed… and then there was a place. It looked like empty space, just dust and debris, lit by a young star. She knew exactly where it was, past the Jotun sun, through the nebula of sparks, right at the great red giant, round the asteroid field and straight on ‘til the light of the sun shone bright enough to see by.

Frigga didn’t know why, but she knew it was the most important place in the whole universe.

Hela’s wave of death slammed passed the group, missing them by inches as she was blinded. The elevator doors and the staircase alike crumbled into pieces. Stone fell down the stairs until the weight caused it to collapse in on itself, killing anyone who had not yet made it down to safety.

Eir and Inge both grabbed the patient’s beds and pushed them past Hela, ducking their heads and praying to Yggdrasil that they would be hit by the stray blades she was throwing out in every direction. 

Eir reached out and grabbed Frigga’s shoulder as she ran past, jerking her forwards and back through the wing. The three of them pushed the beds as fast as they could out of the main doors and down the corridors. They were too afraid to look back, barely keeping fear and panic at bay long enough to reach the nearest working elevator. Two Valkyrie came running out as they arrived.

“Don’t!” Eir yelled at them, “You’ll die, just help us run!” 

They grabbed the beds and guided them into the elevator, hitting the button and waiting fearfully as the doors closed.

Only when the elevator began to head down did EIr turn to Frigga. 

“You didn’t tell me you were a goddess,” she said.

Frigga just stared back at her. “I didn’t know,” she said, gasping for breath.

In her mind the darkness vanished, the pathway that led to her early death was closed to her. But what that meant for the rest of Asgard Frigga did not know.

They reached the ground floor and unloaded the wounded. Frigga stepped back into the elevator.

“What are you doing?” Eir asked her.

“I have to find Odin,” Frigga said.

“He’s probably dead,” Inge said, “Don’t be a fool.”

“He’s not dead,” Frigga said. “I know he’s not. I _know._ I’ll find him, you get everyone as far away as you can.”

The doors closed and Frigga pressed the button to go back up to the fourth floor, where Odin’s office was. Her mind felt open to the universe, like her dreams had always been.

But now she was awake, and she could see the path ahead. 

Hela wouldn’t make it to the elevator to stop and kill her, someone was coming. 

****

Hela couldn’t see the world in front of her anymore. Her vision was filled first with blinding light, then with utter darkness, and finally with a rocky plain, no life, no death, just endless rocks and a barrier across the sky. She looked around in anger, trying to find something to target, something to lash out at.

“Oooh… you got rocks,” said the voice of Loki.

Hela whirled and threw a wave of death but it passed right through him. 

“Can’t kill the dead,” he said cheerfully, “You’re lucky you know, _I_ never get rocks.”

Hela screamed in rage and summoned a blade. She threw it at him but it just passed straight through him as though he wasn’t even there.

“Watch out, Hela darling, even death can’t escape fate,” he said, fading away with a laugh.

Images appeared across the sky. Hela watched in growing fury as the future of Asgard spun before her, people living and dying at their own pace, the realms’ days and nights passing in a fury, Odin welcoming a baby with a smile on his face, the future, and all of it without her.

It was gone in an instant, and Hela blinked hard as the light finally faded, leaving her back in the healers’ wing. Inge and the others had fled, Hela was alone. Whatever that had been rattled her, but not enough to stop. No. She’d find Frigga and make her pay for that little magic trick.

****

Anima was in her room when the knock came on the door. It was just about time to go and meet her father in the rose garden.

“Perfect timing,” she said, signing the last page in front of her and carefully binding them together. “Come in,” she called.

Arnet the servant walked in. “You asked me to see you, your Grace?” he said.

“Yes Arnet, I have some things for you to deliver,” Anima said. “This box and bundle of papers are to go to my father’s office. This set is to go to Eir the healer, and this rather large stack here is to be delivered to the library.”

He took the box and other papers from her. “I’ll deliver them at once,” he said.

There was the distant sound of a crash which made them both stop and look at one another. 

“That sounded bad,” Anima said, heading out of her room to look out of the window in the landing. “That _was_ bad,” she corrected, seeing a section of the palace wall crumble and fall. 

“The wall’s collapsed,” Arnet exclaimed.

“No,” Anima said, “That was Hela, look at the black waves there, and the way the stone is crumbling. What is she doing?”

An alarm sounded throughout the palace signalling attack and evacuation. They watched in alarm as a second area of the palace collapsed. Even from where they stood they heard the distant screams of terror being abruptly cut off as the stones fell.

Arnet looked up at Anima in fear. “She’s gone mad,” he whispered.

Anima gritted her teeth and hissed in anger. “Keep those papers safe,” she said. “Just run as far as you can, and deliver them when it’s safe to return, promise me?”

“I promise,” Arnet stammered.

Anima put a hand on his shoulder and he vanished, reappeared outside the palace walls.

Then she turned to look down at the hole Hela had made in the palace wall.

“Right,” she said sternly.

_Do you want help?_ asked Daianya. 

_Teleport us back and we’ll take her on together,_ added Nal.

_No, thank you, I’ve got this,_ Anima thought back at them. She closed her eyes and vanished in a flash of light. It was time Hela finally found out just what magic could do.

****

Hela stalked down the corridor away from the healers’ wing. She was still heading towards the rose garden, but the temptation to deviate here and there to seek out and extinguish life was too much to ignore.

The elevator was coming up, no doubt being called by someone up above. Hela grinned and summoned a wave of decay. It would never reach them, whoever they were.

She threw the wave with a laugh, delighting in the destruction to come.

The wave changed colour in mid-flight, and when it hit the wall the paint all changed to different colours.

Hela stopped in confusion.

“You know, I do remember telling you that no one truly feared death,” said Anima from behind her.

Hela spun and threw half a dozen blades. They became butterflies which flew up and away from the two sisters, carried on the breeze caused by the missing walls nearby.

“You are a foolish little mortal, with foolish little mortal thoughts. I am the queen, and you will _not_ get in my way,” Hela said.

Anima just shook her head slowly. “What I am, Hela, is tired,” she said. “I am tired of making runes every day, I am tired of hearing about the war, the battles, the progress and the setbacks. This universe is filled with wonder and I have seen hardly any of it, because two stubborn kings couldn’t stop arguing instead of just talking. And when kings argue they do it using other people. I have done my duty, Hela, but it has tired me, and now you have finally showed your true colours, and I am already tired of those too. Is there one single ruler in the whole nine realms who just wants to take care of their people?”

Hela laughed. “You have no understanding of what it means to be a queen,” she said.

“Good,” snapped Anima, “Because all it ever seemed to do to you was drive you mad. You could have been a comfort to the gravely ill, you could have been a reprieve from suffering, you could have been _kind_ , but instead you chose to be violent and angry and just… horrible.”

Hela snapped her wrists and two knives flew towards Anima, only to vanish before they reached her. Both knives hit Hela in the back, teleported behind her in mid-flight.

“I’m going to bask in your death,” Hela said.

“You’ll never see it,” Anima said.

Hela threw a wave of decay which Anima deflected to the side. It hit the wall which began to crumble. Anima slammed her hands forward and Hela was thrown into the air and spun in a dozen directions before landing hard on the polished stone floor.

“You can’t defeat me,” Hela hissed, “I can’t die.”

Anima smiled almost kindly. “I know, and I pity you,” she said.

Hela let out a scream of rage and launched herself from the ground directly at Anima, no longer bothering with power or weapons, just her hands outstretched like claws.

****

Frigga reached Odin’s office and gasped at the fallen stone. She knelt and began to heave at the edges, pulling away each piece as quickly as she could.

She found him at the centre, unconscious but breathing. Holding out her hand she muttered the words of a healing spell and watched anxiously as it took effect.

Odin opened his eyes and blinked at her. “Frigga my love?” he mumbled.

“You have to get up,” Frigga said. “Hela’s gone mad and she’s killing everyone in the palace.”

He blinked uncertainly, but then her words sank in and his eyes widened. “No,” he gasped and began to struggle. Together they shifted the stone that still held him in place. “Are the people evacuating?” he asked.

“As best they can, she’s already destroyed the healers’ wing and a lot of the rooms between here and there,” Frigga said. “She never even threatened us, just started attacking.”

Odin climbed to his feet and held out a hand. Mjolnir flew into it. He stared at it for a second before remembering and stepped across the room to grab Gungnir instead. 

“I have to reach her,” he said.

“Is it really true she can’t be killed?” Frigga asked.

Odin paused. “As far as I know, yes,” he said, “So I have to convince her to stop, otherwise I don’t know what will happen. She will destroy all of Asgard.”

The memory of her vision flickered across Frigga’s mind, of a place far away that was more important than any other, but something felt wrong. She was filled with an almost overwhelming desire to go to King Bor’s chambers, but that was neither towards Hela or a way out. She pushed the impulse aside and followed Odin as he ran down the destroyed corridors, tracking his way to Hela.

****

Hela’s leap never reached Anima, instead she found herself leaping towards her own feet as they disappeared through a portal. She screamed again and shot a wave of decay at the ground beneath Anima’s feet. The floor crumbled and fell, but Anima remained standing exactly where she was.

“It’s all you know, isn’t it?” Anima asked. “You can’t do anything else, you have no real tricks, to creative plans, just kill and kill and kill again. You can’t touch me.”

“Everything dies!” Hela snapped.

“But not because of you,” Anima snapped back. She threw a spell into the air and chains appeared, wrapping themselves around Hela’s limbs and pulling them apart, leaving her suspended in mid-air.

Anima’s body began to glow around the edges, her skin took on the now familiar look of her goddess form. Hela snarled in her chains as Anima called on more and more power.

“You need to go,” Anima said, “Honestly I suspect you were never meant to be, at least not as you are.”

She held up a hand and Hela’s started laughing. “I will never die,” she screamed, “I will always find a way back! It’s my nature! You stupid little – ”

“Hela,” Odin said, arriving at a run.

Both sisters turned to look at him.

“Oh,” Hela said, sounding disappointed, “You lived.”

“I almost didn’t,” Odin confessed.

“Good,” Hela said, “Next time I’ll try just a little bit harder.”

“I thought you could learn to be a good queen, a good ruler for Asgard,” Odin said.

“Good is subjective, I would have made Asgard great,” Hela said.

Odin sighed heavily. “There’s so much more to leadership – ”

“Oh shut up!” Hela snapped. “You are the worst of them all, at least Anima has the decency to hate me!”

“That’s true,” Anima said.

Odin looked pained. “You will have to stand trial for what you have done,” he said, ignoring Hela’s chuckles.

“No,” said Anima.

“What?” Odin said.

“What?” Hela repeated.

“No more chances,” Anima said. “You’ve had more chances than I’ve had years, you, of all of us, have had more forgiveness, kindness, and compassion than the rest of us combined and you still can’t understand just what a gift you have had. I told you I was tired, well, I’m tired of that too. It’s over, Hela, Father. I am done.”

Her body exploded into the light of pure magic, leaving, as always, her mortal eyes watching from the centre. Odin fell backwards from the force of magic that Anima was summoning. He caught himself on a piece of broken wall and watched as she cast her spell.

For the first, and indeed only time, he saw magic as she always did. The numbers spun around in the air, telling this to go here, and that to go there, shifting the hard reality of the world and nudging it around the laws it was usually forced to obey. Odin’s mouth fell open in awe as Anima made all the planes of Yggdrasil from the physical surface to the deepest spiritual depths dance to her bidding.

****

A portal opened and Hela was sucked through. She vanished backwards, falling down into darkness, away from the ever shrinking light of the world. She screamed in fury, unable to catch herself, unable to stop. 

She fell until the light was a pinprick, and as she slammed into a hard surface beneath her the light above finally winked out. 

After a moment a new light appeared as a clear glow that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Hela sat up and looked around her in horror. She was laying on the rocks of her vision, above her head a dome of pink and purple sealed her in. She was trapped in her own, personal realm. She could sense no life, and where there was no life, there could be no death to sooth her.

She screamed and screamed and screamed until her throat burned, but her only answer was endless silence and unforgiving rock.


	36. The Wisdom of Age

“What did you do?” Odin asked, turning to Anima who reformed into her usual appearance.

“I trapped her,” Anima said. “I used a spell of Eitri’s as the base, but I changed it a little. No need for physical triggers if you know the right numbers to work around them.”

“Tapped? Where?” Odin asked.

“In a seidr pocket, in the deepest, darkest seidr pocket possible. She’s buried right in the heart of Yggdrasil itself,” Anima said.

“For how long?” Odin asked, still looking in bewilderment at the place where Hela had been.

“Forever,” Anima said.

“That’s not possible,” Odin said, “All spells fade in time.”

“Not if they’re linked to a power source,” Anima said calmly, as though they were discussing what they were going to eat for lunch.

“What power source?!” Odin demanded.

“Yggdrasil,” Anima said softly.

“What?”

“Yggdrasil. I linked the spell to Yggdrasil’s own life. As long as Yggdrasil lives, Hela will remain buried within its core, unable to escape, unable to interact with the physical or spiritual planes. She’s gone, Father, forever,” Anima said. She gave her father a kindly smile. “I know you wanted more for her, I know you hoped that she could learn and grow, but I truly don’t believe she was ever capable of it. She was a mistake, an anomaly in the life of Yggdrasil. It’s powerful, yes, and wise, but not infallible, I am sure of that now. Hela was cancer, a rogue cell unable to stop herself from causing destruction. And I was the treatment. I always knew my creation had a purpose, and for the first time in my life, I don’t feel the call anymore. I think I have done what I was meant to do, and I’m glad. I’m glad I found out what it was.”

Odin shook his head as he tried to comprehend what she was saying. “Anima,” he started to say, but broke off when he realised he didn’t really know what to ask.

Anima smiled again and held out her hand. “Father,” she said.

He took her hand instinctively, wanting to provide assurance, or perhaps receive some – 

– And then he was standing on a cliff not far from an ocean, the waves crashing into the rocks far below.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Tønsberg,” Anima said from behind him. “I thought about going back to Bouvinda, to the place where Senan was laid to rest, but I think it would upset the people there. I’d rather they keep their myth of the fairy princess, so instead I chose Mother’s home, or what used to be her home.”

Odin frowned in confusion. “No, there was a city here,” he said, “It had a magical school, and houses, there’s nothing here.”

“Midgard has still not recovered from the Titan war,” Anima said, “The damage was too great, it will be years before they are anywhere near what they once were. I believe there are a few little huts further down towards the ocean.”

Odin turned, shocked at what he was seeing. “But it was so – ” he broke off and his eyes grew wide. “Anima?” he asked uncertainly.

Anima’s hair was slowly turning white. She looked at him with an almost pitying smile. “You know, I really did want a little more time than this, but the war took you away so often,” she said as her skin began to wrinkle and age.

“Wait, did Hela hit you? What’s going on?” Odin asked, reaching for her.

“It’s not Hela, Father, it’s time, ordinary time. I am a mortal, I always have been,” Anima said, lowering herself onto a nearby rock and resting back against it as well as she could. “I am dying, on schedule.”

“But your regeneration spell?” Odin said weakly as the wrinkles grew worse and her hair, now fully white and course with age, began to slowly thin.

“A very good spell indeed. It certainly kept my joints from aching and, oh they do ache now, I’m not sorry to have missed out on this part,” Anima said, “But no magic can stop a mortal’s lifeforce from burning away, if it could I would have kept Senan with me and we’d have explored the stars together. Instead I must hope that he waits for me in Tír na nÓg.”

Odin felt tears spring into his eyes as realisation hit, he sank down beside her, thoughts whirring, trying to see a way to make it stop.

“I could urge you, Father, to make peace with Eitri before too many other lives are lost to time or violence. The nine realms were not meant to squabble like this. We ought to be working together. We were never stronger than when we united against an outside threat. But why do we have to be threatened to get along? Daianya, Nal and I are so very different, but our squabbles were never realm ending, and at least two of us were absolutely capable of being so,” Anima said.

Odin just stared at her, still taken aback by how quickly she was changing. 

“You will be a better king than your father,” Anima said as her eyes started to turn cloudy, “But will you be a better father than you are a king?”

“I don’t understand,” Odin said, fighting tears.

“Age brings wisdom, Father, and being mortal I am fortunate enough to obtain wisdom at quite an accelerated rate,” Anima said with increasing difficulty. “It does not take a seer to see the future when you know who is involved. You are clever, and you care about your people, but you lack the greatest lesson, and if you can’t learn it, everyone you love will suffer.”

“What lesson?” Odin asked.

“For the sake, not of the nine realms, but of the two daughters you have left” – She turned her head and her milky-white eyes stared straight into his – “Learn to lose.”

“What?” Odin asked.

“Learn to bend, Father, learn to lose, before you are forced to. Learn to, once in a while, place those you love above those for whom you have a duty. You have lost one daughter to madness, you are about to lose another to death, do not lose the third if you can help it, she still loves you, for all that she is hurt by… what you have done. One day, when it really… really matters… you must… trust her... or you will lose everything.”

Anima slumped, her breath was growing weaker by the second. Odin had tears on his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around her frail body.

“Daughter, no, wait,” he spluttered.

“I do not… regret… my duty…” she said, “But I… do wish… it hadn’t… been necessary…”

She held out a hand and concentrated. Odin felt the magic flow from her into the earth. A few dozen metres down, the rock shifted to form a small cavern, enclosed and sheltered from the world above.

“That will do… mortals are… creatures of dirt and earth… I shall go back there,” Anima said.

“I’m sorry,” Odin said, “I didn’t realise, you never said, I’d have been home more but I didn’t know.”

She didn’t answer. Moments later the laboured breathing he felt against his chest slowed to a stop and then it was just him on the cliff, cradling the body of his daughter, all alone.

****

Far away in her cabin on one of the Valkyrie transport ships, Daianya began to weep.

“What is it? What’s happened?” Norah asked in alarm.

“My sister, Anima, she’s dead,” Daianya said. 

“What? How?” Norah asked before being hushed by Tiree.

Daianya just cried harder, wishing that Tarah was with her to cling to.

****

Laufey stared in horror as the tears fell to the floor, landing with tiny plinking sounds as Nal bowed her head.

“Your Majesty, please, what’s wrong?” he asked.

Jotun rarely cried, and never so many tears. They just kept falling. He looked up at where Groupr stood, shocked into helplessness.

Nal gasped in enough air to speak. “Make arrangements, Laufey,” she said as yet another tear fell down, cutting through the flesh of her eye, “I shall very shortly need to visit Midgard.”

****

The funeral, such as it was, was a small and quiet affair with little ceremony. Odin laid the body of Anima, now as light as a feather and withered with advanced age, down onto a stone dais within the cavern she had created. Daianya stood by his side with Tarah’s arm wrapped around her. 

From his other side, Nal stepped forwards and held out a small bag, which she upturned on Anima’s stomach. More than forty Jotun tears fell in a pile, some scattering on the floor as they tumbled freely. No one moved to pick them up; they were left where they fell.

Odin noticed as she stepped back that a second tear had been added to her pendant, hanging beside the first which she had shed for Bestla decades earlier. 

And then as one they turned and left the cavern. Odin paused at the tiny entrance and smiled sadly in spite of his grief. Anima was nothing if not meticulous when it came to her spells. He pressed the rune carved into the rock and the entrance slid shut, sealing away the inside and hiding it from the outside world.

They climbed the rocky and thin cliff path back to the top, where a number of guards were waiting, eyeing one another suspiciously. 

Odin turned to speak to Nal, but she walked away from him without looking back. She already looked different. Her clothes were made of fur rather than silk or cotton, and there was Jotun styled ornaments in her hair and across her body. She walked differently too, straighter and more confidently. When she reached the place where Laufey and two guards stood, Laufey gave Odin a slightly smug look. He had not missed the clear snub of her walking away.

Nal nodded to Laufey who activated the Jotun beacon, and a moment later the group was gone. 

Odin took the rebuke, he knew that he deserved it, but hoped that with time he might be able to save what little relationship he still had with his least well understood daughter. For now he turned to Daianya, who was standing flanked by two Valkyrie and two warriors, waiting for him to join them so that they could go home.

He stepped forward and gave a nod. The Bifrost activated and sent them spiralling through space. 

The moment they arrived Daianya walked away from him. He found himself hurrying after her to the horses.

“Daianya, daughter,” he said, as it suddenly struck him that she was the only child he had left on Asgard.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you, Father, Tarah and I will be moving into the barracks together permanently, we’ve received approval from General Solveig,” Daianya said.

Her voice was even and her manner polite, but her face was hard.

“As you wish,” Odin said. “When… when we get back to the palace, I want you to deliver a message for me, to Eitri, a message of peace.”

Daianya nodded. “Of course,” she said.

He watched as she mounted up and began riding away.

****

Frigga stood at the palace gates and watched as Odin slowly rode in. She’d just been visiting the emergency healers’ quarters that had been set up, to congratulate Myia on the safe arrival of her baby boy. In her mind she could see the remaining two pathways. Calling on Yggdrasil had broken them from her dreams and brought them into her waking world.

She could still turn away, she could pack her bags and run back to Vanaheim, leave him and the whole of Asgard far behind her.

He dismounted and looked up at her and in that moment she made her choice. For better or worse, she could not abandon him to face the pain she saw in his eyes alone. The second pathway closed itself as she stepped forwards to greet him – in her mind she reached the cliff where he was standing and held out her arms – in reality she drew him into a hug – in her mind they tumbled off the cliff forever, their fates entwined, whatever the future may be. 

“Come inside,” she said, “It’s growing cold out here.”

****

Two days after Anima’s death, Eitri stood on the deck of a ship with Daianya at his side and watched as Stormbringer was shot deep into the heart of the hottest star in the galaxy. The power of it caused a minor explosion on the surface as the metal melted and the handle burned. Eitri sighed deeply in relief. He hoped never again to have to make something so dangerous or powerful.

“We will meet as promised in three days’ time,” he said, “Until then there will be no planned battles.”

She nodded. “Thank you, your Majesty,” she said.

“I am sorry to hear about your sister,” Eitri said, “I have always admired her skill with magic, and it was a skill, a goddess can do anything, but she truly understood magic, and that is much rarer.”

“Her soul is safe,” Daianya said, “But I do wish I could still talk to her.”

“One day we shall all be in the spiritual realms, and then no doubt, we shall feast endlessly while reminiscing about all the time we wasted while we were alive,” Eitri said.

“Brokkr and Sindri have both made a start on that,” Daianya said. “They are together, and are indeed feasting right now.”

He blinked hard at the sudden tears in his eyes. “Thank you,” he said, “That knowledge brings me peace.”

****

Odin entered his office on the morning of the third day to find a package waiting for him. 

“What is this?” he asked his secretary, appointed after Hela had murdered the last one.

“The servant Arnet brought it, I scanned it for security reasons, but while there is something powerful in the box it does not appear to be a threat, your Majesty,” said the secretary, “It’s from Princess Anima.”

Odin unpacked the box at once. Inside he found a golden cuff with extremely detailed instructions on how it was meant to be used. He saw at once where she’d gotten the idea for Hela’s imprisonment, and why she’d modified the spell, the cuff required a much more mundane life that that of Yggdrasil, and blood to bind it. 

He also found, resting beneath the other papers, Anima’s will, leaving her magical notes to the palace library for future sorcerers to study, her various artefacts and magical equipment to specific people, and her studies on the origin and creation of Asgard to the public library in the main city, where the historians and scholars tended to study.

Odin’s hand trembled as he read over the brief document ending in her signature. He traced it gently with one finger.

“Thank you, you may go,” Odin said to the secretary, fighting fresh tears.


	37. Epilogue

## Tønsberg, 965 A.D.

The village of Tønsberg had re-established itself over the millennia, first as rough and temporary huts, built as nomads wander through on their way from hunting ground to hunting ground, then as permanent structures of mud brick and wood, finally as sturdy houses with stone, and fencing to keep the animals in.

Up on the cliff above the main part of the village the rock which had sat there for thousands of years slowly wore down and smoothed out to a fraction of what it had been.

And the ocean waves continued crashing below, slowly eroding the cliff, carving a new coastline one inch of rock at a time.

It was quiet that night. It was quiet every night. The mortals slept inside their houses, soothed by the sound of the waves.

****

## Asgard, 965 A.D.

Odin walked as though through trapped in a nightmare, not fully able to comprehend the damage that had been done. The Valkyrie were dead, all of them gone in a single night. The army was standing shocked and broken, with desperate men searching the bodies for partners, sisters, mothers and daughters, he could still hear the sounds of their screams of anguish echoing from far below.

He reached the healers’ wing and saw Frigga lying in bed, the head healer, Eir attending her carefully as toddler Thor lay sleeping in a cradle by her bedside.

She looked up and saw him. “They tried to hold her back,” she said, “They all did.”

Odin sat at the edge of her bed. “My love,” he said.

“The blade went through my abdomen. It was poisoned. Eir saved my life but Thor will be our only child,” Frigga said, wincing in pain as she shifted on the bed, “The damage was too great.”

A noise from beneath his cloak got her attention, the tiny little mew of a waking infant. Odin slowly peeled back his cloak, revealing a babe no more than four months old.

Frigga looked up at him, into his one remaining eye, the other torn out on the battlefield as his luck ran out at last. “Odin, what did you do?” she asked.

He stared at her with helpless look on his face as the true realisation of what had happened that night finally sank in.

“I lost,” he said.


	38. NOTES

So… how are we all feeling? 

Did anyone pick up on Anima’s death before it happened? I tried to foreshadow it without giving it all away, so she spent a lot of time thinking about wasted time. Not to mention Hela noticing something different about her when they had their conversation in the Great Hall (she was sensing the encroaching death).

I know I said there were four stories to this series, and I meant it! There is another adventure involving the three sisters (yes, all three). Although I have a confession to make…

…there appears to be a fifth one. It showed up on its own while writing the others, and chronologically it fits in between the third and fourth story, so I guess that’s the new fourth story now. It is different however, because it’s actually about Thor and Loki, and how Odin cannot seem to stop keeping secrets.

I hope that you will stick around for it, although I understand if you prefer to wait until I get back to the three sisters for the final adventure. I will, once again, take a few weeks off before I start posting the next instalment.

FYI, it’s called A Child of His Pride

Once again thank you to all who are reading this, with a special thank you to Divine_Pandora and GoofyGoldenGirl for commenting on every chapter (seriously, your encouragement was invaluable), and also to mistressmaraj, Sanctuaria and Leytr for popping in and out when you could, and finally to Mari_1113, who disappeared for ages and then popped up with “so I’ve finally caught up with this series” after something like forty chapters of radio silence. 

I write these stories in the hope that someone else will like them as much as I do when they play in my head. Thank you for letting me know that you are out there and for all your encouragement, without it I would not have made it this far.

And finally, the songs. I normally don’t use the actual songs I listen to as chapter titles, but twice in this story I couldn’t think of anything better. It’s raining men came to me long before I needed it but once it did there was just no other choice for the fall of the True Men, and Bye Bye Bye, other than one or two lines, was just so perfect for Bor _finally_ getting his revenge on Loki. The other song that just felt perfect was High Hopes by Panic! at the Disco for Loki revealing who he was meant to be, the whole song felt right, but particularly the lines “They say it's all been done but they haven't seen the best of me; So I got one more run and it's gonna be a sight to see” really captured how Loki saw himself and his role. Who knows, he may even be right.

Anima saying goodbye to Senan: Immortal – Marina and the Diamonds  
Daianya and Tarah enjoying time together: Just the Way You Are – Bruno Mars  
Eitri fighting Hela and almost killing her: One Way or Another – Blondie   
Loki in love with Nal: Heartbreak Down – P!nk  
Nal’s feelings about Loki not trusting her: Bare Hands – Delta Goodrem  
Nal attacking Hela: This Means War – Nickelback   
Loki revealing that he is the God of Ragnarok: High Hopes – Panic! At the Disco  
Loki finally letting Nal read his code: I Scare Myself – Beth Crowley  
Loki giving in to Nal because he loves her: Waterloo – ABBA   
Nal actually reading Loki’s code and realising all he is: Symphony – Clean Bandit   
Fighting off the True Men’s Alliance: It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls  
Bor finally winning against Loki: Bye Bye Bye – NSYNC  
Odin betraying Nal and not keeping his promise for her to always have a place in Asgard/Nal realising she will never impress him: According to You – Orianthi   
Nal realising she has no choice but to leave Asgard: The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert  
Hela realising Bor will never make her Queen: Everybody’s Fool – Evanescence   
Nal standing up to her Grandfather and defying his wishes: Speechless – Naomi Scott   
Hela going mad and killing everyone: Mamma’s Broken Heart – Miranda Lambert  
Anima fighting and trapping Hela: Carol of the Bells – Trans Siberian Orchestra (specifically this version)  
Anima dying of old age: Worth It – Beth Crowley  
Burying Anima: Living Without You – Beth Crowley


End file.
